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THE 


HAPPY   ISLANDS 


OB, 


PARADISE  RESTORED. 


BY 

REV.  W.  F.  EVANS. 


BOSTON: 
H.  V.    DEGEN    &     SON, 

22    CORNHILL. 
1860. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  ISCO,  l.r 

WARREN    F.  EVANS, 

In  tlie  Clerk's  OfBcc  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


ELV.C'TnOTYPEn    AT    T!!E 
nOSXON     STEEEOTYPE     KOUJtPKT. 


£^2H 


P  E  E  F  A  C  E 


It  is  the  object  of  this  little  volume  to 
analyze  some  of  the  higher  forms  of  Chris- 
tian experience,  and  to  afford  a  ray  of  light 
to  the  thousands  of  God's  dear  children  who 
are  panting  for  a  higher  spiritual  condition, 
and  a  fellowship  with  God  which  shall  sat- 
isfy all  the  needs  of  tlieir  nature.  The  au- 
thor has  aimed  to  describe  not  only  the 
interior  blessedness  of  the  higher  degree  of 
divine  life  in  the  soul,  but  also  the  influ- 
ence which  it  has  upon  the  appearance  of 
the  outward  world.  When  the  soul  becomes 
united    to    Christ,    and    is    restored   to  that 

(3) 


4  PREFACE.  ^ 

blissml  intercourse  and  affectionate  famil- 
iarity with  God  which  was  its  original  state, 
it  then,  from  its  lofty  standing  ground,  and 
through  a  purer  medium,  sees  the  earth 
invested  with  new  charms.  To  such  a  soul 
the  world  is  not  a  howling  wilderness,  but 
is  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord.     Then 

"  Earth  's  crammed  with  heaven, 
And  every  common  bush  afire  with  God." 

One  of  the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  work 
is,  that  what  we  lost  in  the  fall  of  our  first 
parents  has  been  restored  in  Christ.  All  the 
essential  elements  of  Paradise,  so  far  as  it 
was  a  moral  and  spiritual  state,  may  be  now 
regained  in  him  ;  and  when  Paradise  is 
formed  within,  we  find  the  outward  world 
in  harmony  with  our  redeemed  spiritual 
nature. 

The  plan  of  the  work  is  different  from 
other  books  on  the  subject  of  full  salvation, 
but  it  is  hoped  that  it  will,  on  that  account. 


PREFACE. 


be  none  the  less  acceptable  or  useful.  The 
inward  life  which  it  unfolds  is  not  imprac- 
ticable to  any  one  who  has  entered  upon  the 
incipient  stage  of  redemption,  and  the  author 
only  desires  that  it  may  be  reproduced  in 
the  heart  of  every  one  of  his  readers. 
Whatever  of  spiritual  truth  is  found  in  the 
book  is  all  of  Christ,  who  is  the  imcreated 
Word  and  the  self-existent  Truth.  If  there 
is  in  it  any  thing  contrary  to  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus,  it  proceeds  of  course  from  the 
writer,  who,  though  he  loves  truth  as  he 
loves  God,  yet  sees  only  through  a  glass 
darkly.  May  the  reader  appropriate,  to  the 
progress  of  his  soul  in  love  and  wisdom,  all 
the  truth  contaiijcd  in  the  volume.  May  all 
its  error  be  rejected,  as  a  healthy  eye  re- 
jects a  particle  of  earthy  dust  that  falls  into 
it.  If  it  shall  minister  comfort  to  souls  in 
distress,  guide  any  to  an  all-satisfying  com- 
munion with  a  present  Deity,  and  assist  one 
struggling  spirit  in  its  birth  into  a  higher 
1  -• 


b  PREFACE. 

life,  the  end  for  which  it  was  written  will 
be  gained.  The  work,  such  as  it  is,  is 
humbly  consecrated  to  God,  and  the  good 
of  his  neighbor,  by  the  author,  whose  high- 
est ambition  is  to  be  a  servant  of  the  ser- 
vants of  his  Lord. 


CONTEN"TS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE   VOYAGE   AND   DISCOVERY   OF   THE   ISLANDS. 

The  Belief  of  the  Ancients  in  the  Happy  Islands.  — 
Homer. — Plato. — Plutarch. — Whence  this  Belief  arose. 

—  Paradise  is  a  spiritual  Condition.  —  How  the  Author 
was  led  to  seek  the  Happy  Islands.  —  Inward  Combats 
and  Struggles. — The  Purpose  formed  and  the  Voyage 
undertaken.  —  The  Land  appears.  —  The   Islands   gained 

—  The  divine  Humanity  appears.  —  Description  of  him. — 
The  Condition  of  full  Salvation. —  Sinking  into  Life. — 
Testimony  of  Guigc  — Of  Tauler 13 

CHAPTER    II. 
A   DESCRIPTION    OF   THE    HAPPY   ISLANDS. 

The  Number  and  Names  of  the  Islands. — A  Description 
of  them.  — Staurosis.  —  The  Altar  of  Repose.  —  The  Cov- 
enant signed.  —  Full  Consecration. — The  Land  explored. 

—  The  Inhabitants.  —  Locality  of  the  primitive  Paradise. 

—  Christianity    restores    Paradise.  —  First,    as    a    moral 

(7) 


8  CONTENTS. 

State.  —  Secondly,  as  an  external  Condition.  —  The  Ele- 
ments of  the  Paradisiacal  ■  State.  —  The  Beauties  and 
Harmonies  of  the  outward  World.  —  Fellowship  with  God. 

—  Communion  of  holy  Souls. — The  Inhabitants  of  the 
Islands  not  numerous. — Is  it  a  permanent  State?  — 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux 39 

CHAPTER    III.       • 
THE   SUPREME   GOOD    SOUGHT    AND    FOUND. 

Created    Beauty    does   not  satisfy.  —  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Rowe. 

—  Beauty  of  the  Lord.  —  The  Craving  of  the  Soul  after 
God.  —  The  Inquiries  of  Philosophers  respecting  the 
Sittnmum  Bonum.  — The  Possession  of  God.  — The  Yearn- 
ing of  the  Soul   after   the   infinite  Good.  —  Job. — David. 

—  Divine  Attraction. — E-aj'mond  Lull.  —  Charles  Wes- 
ley.—  The  Soul  made  for  the  Enjoyment  of  God.  —  Where 
shall  we  find  him  ?  —  Thomas  a  Kempis.  — Madame  Guyon. 

—  Fenelon.  —  Baxter.  —  God  the  proper  Habitation  of  the 
Soul.  —  Ruysbroch.  —  Inward  Sense  of  God. — Testimony 
of  Tauler. — The  Piety  of  the  Middle  Age.  —  Contempla- 
tion of  God.  —  Recollection.  —  Fletcher.  —  Contemplation 
analyzed 70 

CHAPTER    IV. 
THE   ISLAND    ANAPAUSIS,    OR   THE   LAND    OF  REST. 

The  Place   described.  — The   Saints'  Rest. —Baxter.  — The 
golden  Fountain.— Loss  of  the  selfish  Will.  —  Prayer  re- 


CONTENTS.  9 

solved  into  its  Essence. — Inordinate  Desire. — Rule  of 
Kempis.  —  Silent  Prayer.  —  True  Riches.  —  Complete  Sat- 
isfaction of  all  the  Needs  of  our  Nature.  —  Desire  of 
Wealth,  of  Honor,  of  Knowledge.  —  The  Affections  re- 
posing on  the  infinite  Good.  —  A  Symbol  of  the  Soul's 
Rest  in  God.  —  Extract  from   an  old  Author 102 

CHAPTER    V. 
A   DARK   DAY   AT   THE   HAPPY   ISLANDS. 

Day  of  Trial.  —  Darkness  of  naked  Faith.  —  Virtue  strug- 
gling with  opposing  Powers.  —  The  Reason  of  these  spir- 
itual Combats.  —  The  Christian  Life  a  Reappearance  of 
the  Life  of  Jesus  in  the  Soul.  —  The  Childhood  of  Jesus. 
—  Wilderness  State. — Poverty  of  Christ  experienced. — 
His  Servant  Form.  —  His  Peace  and  Joy.  —  Sympathy 
with  the  final  Hour  of  Jesus.  —  Harmony  between  the 
outward  World  and  the  World  within.  —  Results  of  the 
Trial.  —  The  Darkness   ends. — The   Day  breaks.     .     .     .  124 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   ISLAND   OF    EUPHROSYNE. 

The  Scenery.  —  The  Appearance  of  the  outward  World  de- 
pends upon  the  State  of  the  Soul. —Effect  of  Melan- 
choly.—  Peace,  Joy,  Purity.  —  The  Art  of  being  always 
happy. — Ceaseless  Praise.  —  Rejoicing  in  the  Lord. — 
The  Desert  becomes  a  fruitful  Field.  —  The  Valley  of 
Baca  filled  with  Pools.  —  The  Triumph  of  Habakkuk. — 


10  CONTENTS. 

A  Plant  which  symbolizes  such  a  State. —  St.  Paul. — 
The  Mount  of  Purity.  —  Perennial  Springs.  —  Enraptur- 
ing View  from  the  Summit.  —  Yv'hat  a  Mountain  sym- 
bolizes. —  Eli'ect  of  the  View  upon  the  Soul.  — Quotation 
from   Baxter 146 

CHAPTER    VII. 
THE   ISLAND   OF   PLEROPHORIA. 

Nature  and  Office  of  Faith. — The  Attainment  of  Certainty 
in  Religion.  —  Certainty  of  the  divine  Existence.  —  Three 
Degrees  of  divine  Knowledge.  —  Illustrated  by  Columbus. 

—  Elevation  above  the  Realm  of  Sense.  —  Right  Views 
of  the  divine  Character  an  Element  of  an  assured  Faith. 

—  Servile  Fear  removed.  —  Undoubting  Credence  of  the 
Promises.  —  Witness  of  the  Spirit.  —  The  prophetic  State. 

—  No  new  Revelations.  —  Habitual  Faith.  —  Faith  sus- 
tains to  Love  a  causal   Relation.  —  Assurance   of  Hope. 

—  Affectionate  Confidence.  —  State  of  Innocence.     .     .     .  175 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

TELEIA  AGAPE,  OR  THE  REALM  OF  PURE  LOVE. 

Earth  joined  to  Heaven.  —  The  Bride's  Chamber.  —  Friend- 
ship with  Jesus.  —  Excellency  of  Love.  —  AVhat  is  per- 
fect Love  ?  It  is  sincere  Love  ;  it  is  perpetual ;  a  fixed 
State  of  the  "Will;  it  is  supreme.  —  Grateful  Love. — 
Loving  God  alone.  —  Ceaseless  Prayer.  —  The  Love  of 
God    for   his   own    Sake.  —  Quotation  from  Abelard.  —  It 


CONTENTS.  11 

casts  out  Fear.  —  The  Cure  of  wandering  Thoughts.  — 
Spontaneous  Obedience. — Love  a  powerful  Principle. — 
Love  restored  in  the  Happy  Islands.  —  The  lost  Har- 
mony of  the  outward  World. — State  of  Society.  —  Lon- 
gevity of  the  People. — Death  abolished.  —  Correspond- 
ence of  the  material  "World  with  the  spiritual 215 

CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    ISLAND    OF    ELEUTHERIA. 

The  Island  described.  —  State  of  Society.  —  The  Centre  of 
"Worship. — The  Sabbath.  —  The  Bondage  of  the  Soul 
ended.  —  Testimony  of  heathen  Poets  and  Philosophers 
to  the  Tendency  of  the  Soul  to  Evil.  —  The  Liberty  which 
was  enjoyed  in  Paradise.  —  Christ  restores  it  to  the  Soul. 

—  The  Soul  flows  imto  God.  — The  Elements  of  true  spir- 
itual Freedom.  —  Deliverance  from  the  Bondage  to  Forms. 

—  Knowledge  of  the  all-satisfying  Truth. — The  Presence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit. — Knowledge  of  the  deeper  Truths  of 
the  Gospel.  —  Love  renders  the  Soul  receptive  of  Truth. 

—  Three  Stages  of  divine  Knowledge. — Divine  Wisdom. 

—  The  Soul  was  not  only  free,  but  "reigned."  —  Quota- 
tion from  Anselm.  —  A  Kingdom  of  God  realized  on 
Earth 262 

CHAPTER    X. 

THE    ISLAND    HENOTIA,    OR    THE    STATE   OF   DIVINE 
UNION. 

Numa  searching  for  God.  —  The  Deity  every  where.  —  He 
is  to  be  sought  within.  —  Augustine.  —  The  primitive  Phi- 


12  CONTEXTS. 

losophies.  —  The  Hindu  Philosophy.  —  Its  Aim. — Funda- 
mental Error.  —  The  Conjunction  of  the  Humanity  of 
Jesus  with  the  Father.  —  Annihilation  of  our  Selfhood.  — 
Charles  "Wesley. — Madame  Guyon.  —  The  Allness  of  God. 
—  Losing  ourselves  in  him.  —  Kempis.  —  Union  with  the 
Deity  Man's  primitive  Condition.  —  Christ  the  Way.  — 
The  hypostatical  Union.  —  How  Conjunction  with  God  is 
effected. — Dr.  Ullman. — Different  Degrees  of  Union. — 
The  Island  Henotia  described. — The  Condition  of  human 
Souls  symbolized  by  various  Rivers 301 


THE  HAPPY  ISLANDS. 


CHAPTER   I. 
THE  VOYAGE,  AND  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  ISLANDS. 

The  Belief  of  the  Ancients  in  the  Happy  Islands,  —  Homer. — 
Plato.  —  Plutarch.  —  Whence  this  Belief  arose.  —  Paradise  is 
a  spiritual  Condition. — How  the  Author  was  led  to  seek  the 
Happy  Islands.  —  Inward  Combats  and  Struggles.  —  The  Pur- 
pose formed  and  the  Voyage  undertaken.  —  The  Land  ap- 
pears. —  The  Islands  gained.  —  The  divine  Humanity  appears. 
—  Description  of  him. —  The  Condition  of  full  Salvation. — 
Sinking  into  Life.  —  Testimony  of  Guigo.  —  Of  Tauler. 


M 


AN  HAS  ahvays  been  unwilling  to  believe 
that  paradise  has  been  forever  lost  to  the 
world.  There  has  lingered  in  the  mind  of  the  race 
a  yearning  for  its  restoration,  and  a  belief  that  the 
blissful  abode  of  peace  and  innocence  was  still  in 
the  world,  or  would  be  restored  to  it.  It  has 
occurred  to  the  a\ithor  of  this  volume  that  an 
account  of  his  discovery  of  earth's  lost  paradise, 
2  (13) 


14  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

and  a  history  of  a  few  years'  residence  in  it,  would 
not  meet  with  an  unwelcome  reception  from  those 
Avho,  tired  of  outward  and  material  enjoyments,  sigh 
for  inward  repose   and  tranquillity. 

The  ancients  supposed  that  somewhere  in  the  ocean 
was  situated  a  delightful  region,  free  from  the  ex- 
tremes of  heat  and  cold,  and  crowned  with  sponta- 
neous plenty,  and  the  bloom  of  perpetual  spring. 
This  pleasant  place  they  denominated  Insulce  Fortu- 
natcB,  or  Beatce  —  the  Fortunate  or  Happy  Islands. 
Here  they  placed  their  Elysium,  or  the  abode  of  the 
blessed,  which  Homer  thus  describes  :  — 

"  Elysium  shall  be  thine  —  the  blissful  plains 
Of  utmost  earth,  Tivhere  Rhadamanthus  reigns. 
Joj's  ever  young,  unmixed  with  pain  or  fear, 
Fill  the  wide  circle  of  the  eternal  year. 
Stern  winter  smiles  on  that  auspicious  clime ; 
The  fields  are  flcfrid  with  unfading  prime. 
From  the  bleak  pole  no  winds  inclement  blow, 
Mould  the  round  hail,  or  flake  the  fleecy  snow  ; 
But  from  the  breezy  deep  the  blest  inhale 
The  fragrant  murmurs  of  the  western  gale." 

Plato  also,  in  an  eloquent  strain,  describes  them  in 
his  Timseus  and  Critias,  and  makes  them  the  seat  of 
his  ideal  republic,  or  perfect  state  of   society. 

Plutarch   informs   us   that  a  certain  distinguished 


TAllADISE     KESTOKED.  15 

Roman  general,  by  the  name  of  Sertorius,  who,  having 
met  in  Spain  with  some  persons  newly  arrived  from 
the  Fortunate  Islands,  was  so  enraptured  with  the 
glowing  account  they  gave  of  those  happy  regions, 
that,  being  quite  tired  out  with  so  many  fatigues 
and  dangers  both  by  sea  and  land,  he  resolved  to 
retire  thither,  and  spend  his  life  in  peace  and  qui- 
etness, far  from  the  noise  of  war,  and  free  from 
the  cares  of  government.  It  was  a  happy  exchange 
to  leave  earth's  "  gilded  rottenness "  for  a  solid 
peace  and  substantial  bliss. 

The  belief  of  the  ancients  in  this  happy  region 
may  have  been  a  lingering  traditionary  remem- 
brance of  the  primitive  paradise,  and  arose  nat- 
urally from  their  undefined  longing  of  soul  for 
an  unrealized  good,  Avhich  nothing  in  the  old 
world,  either  in  its  civilization,  or  philosophy,  or 
religion,  could  satisfy  ;  or  it  may  have  arisen  from 
the  idea  of  the  perfect,  which  lies  deeply  seated 
in  the  consciousness.  There  is  in  the  human  spirit 
an  intuitive  conviction  that  there  exists  some- 
where the  pure,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good.  This 
leads  the  soul  to  believe  both  in  an  earthly  para- 
dise,   and   in   immortal    and    celestial    bliss.      It   is 


16  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

only  Christianity,  when  apprehended,  not  merely 
as  an  outward  mechanism  of  forms,  or  even  as  a 
creed  for  the  intellect,  but  as  an  interior  divine 
life,  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,  that  can 
give  rest  to  the  deep  inward  cravings  of  humanity. 
The  soul  demands  something  divine,  something 
infinite.  It  is  only  when  Christianity  pervades  the 
whole  being  with  its  new  light  and  life,  and  joins 
the  soul  by  a  tie  stronger  than  death  to  its  Source 
in  the  unity  of  one  spirit,  that  the  desires  of  the 
heart,  "  winged  of  heaven  to  fly  at  infinite,"  can 
find  rest.  Christ  is  the  Desire  of  nations,  because 
he  came  to  bring  in  himself  and  in  his  religion  all 
that  the  souls  of  men  had  ever  desired.  In  this 
capacity  he  sublimely  stood  before  the  assembled 
multitude  in  Jerusalem  on  the  last  day  of  the  feast 
of  tabernacles,  and  cried,  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me  and  drink."  And  how  often 
did  he  call  the  restless,  wandering  soul  to  fly  to 
him  as  the  centre  of  its  rest  I  Ever  since  man  was 
driven  out  from  paradise,  humanity  has  cast  a  long- 
ing look  back  to  that  delightful  abode  of  peace, 
and  of  man  in  union  with  God.  Christianity  comes 
to  meet  this  longing.  The  Happy  Islands  must  be 
sought  somewhere  in  her  domains. 


PAKADISE     KESTOilED.  17 

Paradise,  like  the  heaven  for  which  the  Christian 
hopes,  is  not  wholly  nor  chiefly  an  outward  con- 
dition. It  is  not  a  material  landscape,  or  a  golden 
city,  or  a  place  bounded  by  material  limitations, 
which  must  be  entered  from  without ;  but  it  is  a 
spiritual  condition  to  be  developed  by  the  redeem- 
ing agencies  of  the  gospel  from  M'ithin.  To  enter 
paradise  we  need  not  move  through  space ;  we 
need  not  ascend  into  the  heavenly  worlds,  nor  cross 
on  expanded  wing  the  stellar  spaces.  It  is  an 
ascent  only  in  the  scale  of  life.  It  is  living  in 
God,  in  conscious  communion  and  union  with  the 
infinite  life  and  love.  It  is  dwelling  in  the  "  limit- 
less abode  of  an  omnipresent  Deity."  This  right 
appreciation  of  the  nature  of  paradise,  as  an  inward 
moral  state,  I  find  in  an  old  author,  who  wrote 
about  the  year  1350,  who  belonged  to  a  class  of 
pious  persons  in  Germany,  who  were  called  "  Friends 
of  God."  {Gottes  freunde.)  He  says,  "What  is 
paradise  ?  All  things  that  are  ;  for  all  are  goodly 
and  pleasant,  and  therefore  may  fitly  be  called  a 
paradise.  It  is  said,  also,  that  paradise  is  an  outer 
court  of  heaven.  Even  so  this  world  is  verily  an 
outer  court  of  the  Eternal,  or  of  eternity,  and 
2* 


18  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

specially  whatever  in  time,  or  any  temporal  things 
or  creatures,  manifesteth  or  remindeth  us  of  God 
or  eternity  ;  for  the  creatures  are  a  guide  and  a 
path  unto  God  and  eternity.  Thus  this  world  is 
an  outer  court  of  eternity,  and  therefore  it  well  may 
be  called  a  paradise,  for  it  is  such  in  truth.  And 
in  this  paradise  all  things  are  lawful,  save  one  tree 
and  the  fruits  thereof.  That  is  to  say,  of  all  things 
that  are,  nothing  is  forbidden,  and  nothing  is  con- 
trary to  God,  but  one  thing  only,  that  is,  sin." 
(Theologia  Germanica,  p.  173.)  He  who  looks 
upon  the  outward  world,  and  all  the  arrange- 
ments of  Providence,  as  an  expression  or  visible 
representation  of  the  will  of  God,  and  with  all 
holy  beings  in  the  universe  is  enraptured  with  the 
thought  that  his  will  is  done  in  heaven  and  earth, 
need  not  journey  far  to  find  a  lost  paradise.  Be- 
hold it  is  nigh  thee,  it  is  in  thee.  The  voyage 
to  the  Happy  Islands  is  not  so  much  a  movement 
through  space,  as  a  movement  of  the  soul  towards 
God.  It  was  God  within  that  made  the  original 
paradise  ;  and  when  the  soul  is  brought  back 
through  Christ  to  that  primitive  divine  fellowship, 
paradise    is    restored.     When    the    human    spirit    is 


PARADISE     KESTORED.  19 

sundered  from  God  by  sin,  the  Avhole  universe 
becomes  a  bell  ;  wben  it  is  again  made  one  with 
the  Deity,  from  whom  it  has  broken  away,  the 
whole  outward  creation  becomes  the  ante-chamber 
of  the  celestial  state. 

"When  God  is  mine,  and  I  am  his, 
Of  paradise  possessed, 
I  taste  unutterable  bliss, 
And  everlasting  rest." 

The  author  was  led  by  various  influences  to  go 
in  search  of  the  Happy  Islands.  He  became  first 
fully  convinced  that  they  were  not  merely  the  abode 
of  immortals,  but  were  somewhere  in  this  world, 
and  it  was  the  privilege  of  even  mortal  men  there 
to  find  rest.  The  spiritual  state  symbolized  by 
them  seemed  to  belong  to  this  earthly  stage  of 
our  redemption.  For  many  years  had  he  craved 
the  holiness  and  unutterable  bliss  which  they  were 
supposed  to  afford.  The  experience  of  the  primi- 
tive apostles  and  believers,  described  in  the  New 
Testament,  was  viewed  in  painful  contrast  with  the 
position  of  the  Christian  life  he  had  reached. 
There  seemed  a  fulness  in  the  divine  promises  he 
had    never    grasped.     The    sense    of    distance   from 


20  THE     HAPTY     ISI,ANDS,     OR 

God  became  almost  unendurable,  and  the  spirit 
pined  for  a  closer  communion  with  him.  Like  the 
Roman  Sertorius,  he  fortunately  came  in  contact 
with  a  person  who  had  long  resided  in  the  Happy 
Islands.  His  account  of  them  increased  the  soul's 
inward  thirst  to  partake  of  their  blessedness,  and 
begat  an  increasing  dissatisfaction  with  the  ordinary- 
rudimentary  experience,  the  infantile  position  of  the 
divine  life,  with  its  mixed  state  of  joy  and  sorrow, 
love  and  fear,  holiness  and  sin. 

No  person  ever  reached  his  soul's  supreme  good, 
in  a  complete  self-abandonment  and  union  with 
God,  without  a  struggle  with  opposing  influences, 
and  an  encounter  with  the  whole  strength  of  his 
sinful  tendency.  The  soul  clings  with  the  tenacity 
of  a  death  grasp  to  its  idols,  and  is  reluctant  to 
forsake  the  transient  and  perishing  creatures  for 
the  infinite  Creator.  Doubts  of  the  real  existence 
of  those  islands  would  creep  into  the  mind,  insin- 
uating that  they  were  only  in  the  realm  of  fancy, 
and  were  not  a  reality.  They  were  a  fable,  and 
not  a  fact.  These  doubts  Vvcro  luibosomed  to  the 
person  who  claimed  to  be  an  inhabitant  of  that 
delightful    clime.     The    account    he    gave    of  them 


r  A  K  A  1)  I  S  E     K  i:;  S  X  O  ii  E  B  .  21 

was  characterized  by  a  great  simplicity,  and  ap- 
peared such  as  only  an  eye  witness  could  give. 
His  words  came  from  a  heart  which  was  the  seat 
of  deep  sincerity.  The  arguments  which  were  pre- 
sented against  him  he  did  not  refute.  He  did 
not  and  could  not  reason.  He  was  unskilled  in 
dialectics.  Like  the  beloved  disciple  John,  he  did 
not  argue,  but  gave  the  facts  of  a  living  experi- 
ence. His  belief  was  rooted  immovably  in  his 
inward  consciousness.  Christ  within  had  become 
the  central  point  of  his  spiritual  existence,  and  he 
could  say  with  John,  "  That  which  was  from  the 
beginning,  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which 
we  have  looked  upon,  and  our  hands  have  handled, 
of  the  Word  of  Life.  For  the  Life  was  manifested, 
and  we  have  seen  it,  and  bear  witness,  and  show 
unto  you  that  eternal  Life,  which  was  with  the 
Father,  and  was  manifested  unto  us  ;  that  which 
we  have  seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you, 
that  ye  also  may  have  fellowship  with  us.  And 
truly  our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  and  with 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ."  (1  John  i.  1-3.)  His 
belief  was  too  deeply  embedded  in  his  conscious- 
ness to  be   dislodged    from    his    mind.     There    was 


22  THE     HAPPY     I  S  L  A  X  D  S  ,     OK 

something  in  his  relation  of  a  living  experience  that 
carried  conviction  with  it,  beyond  what  the  best  con- 
structed arguments  could  do.  A  happy  repose  beamed 
in  his  very  features,  and  his  countenance  revealed 
the  paradise  within.  He  spake  the  language  of 
the  Happy  Islands,  wore  their  peculiar  costume, 
and  had  evidently  acquired  their  manners. 

Not  only  doubts  of  the  real  existence  of  the 
InsulcB  Beatce  were  encountered,  but  it  was  suggested 
that  only  a  few,  if  any,  seemed  interested  to  emi- 
grate to  them.  Whoever  went  must  go  alone. 
Also,  the  land  which  I  now  occupied  was  pleas- 
ant. Most  persons  desired  no  better.  And  it  was 
not  certain  that  the  Happy  Islands  were  designed 
for  all.  A  ."avored  few  might  attain  them,  but  the 
soul  felt  its  own  unfitness  to  dwell  there.  Others 
might  reach  that  earthly  paradise,  but  it  was  too 
much  for  every  one  to  hope  ever  to  gain.  The 
thought  also  paralyzed  the  energies  of  the  soul  in 
undertaking  what  seemed  so  difficult  an  enterprise, 
that  if  one  should  reach  them,  it  was  not  certain 
that  he  would  remain  there  always ;  and  then  he 
would  be  more  discontented  than  ever  with  his 
present  residence.     It  seemed  that  the  higher  form 


PARADISE     E,  E  S  T  O  K  E  D  .  23 

of  life  which  there  reigned  must  be  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult. But  never  was  there  a  greater  mistake.  It 
has  ever  been  found  that  the  higher  forms  of  the 
Christian  experience  are  the  easiest  to  live.  When 
the  whole  nature  is  pervaded  by  the  Christian 
spirit,  and  its  current  changed  in  the  direction  of 
God  and  heaven,  the  soul  does  right  without  a 
struggle,  without  an  effort.  The  straighter  the  line 
of  light  on  which  the  Christian  walks,  the  easier 
is  his  path  to  travel.  The  nearer  the  soul  ap- 
proaches in  the  progress  of  its  redemption  to  an 
angelic  life,  the  more  spontaneously  it  moves  towards 
God  and  in  the  highway  of  holiness.  Some  of  the 
older  philosophers  seem  to  have  had  an  idea  of 
this  feature  of  the  higher  life.  Perhaps  there  were 
some  remembrances  of  tlic  original  state  of  man  in 
Eden,  which  were  struggling  with  the  moral  dark- 
ness of  the  world,  and  which  had  not  been  Avholly 
swallowed  up  by  the  surrounding  midnight  gloom. 
The  following  maxim  is  taken  from  a  work  of  the 
Chinese  philosopher,  Lao-tseu,  called  the  "  Book  of 
the  Way  and  the  Truth,"  written  about  six  hundred 
years  before  Christ :  — 

"  Men    of   superior   virtue    are   ignorant    of  their 


24  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

virtue.  Men  of  inferior  virtue  do  not  forget  their 
virtue.  Men  of  superior  virtue  practise  it  without 
thinking  of  it.  Men  of  inferior  virtue  practise  it 
with  intention."  Happy  is  that  man  whose  holy  life 
is  not  so  much  a  struggle  as  a  spontaneity.  We 
may  also  be  assured  that  the  deeper  our  experience 
of  divine  things  becomes,  and  the  more  we  partake 
of  the  divine  nature,  the  less  will  be  the  danger  of 
our  falling  away.  It  is  easier  to  fall  from  a  mixed 
state  than  a  state  of  pure  love.  The  nearer  one 
gets  to  the  heavenly  world,  and  the  more  he  is  in 
sympathy  with  all  holy  spirits,'  the  less  is  the  proba- 
bility that  he  will  ever  lose  the  life  of  God  in  his 
soul.  Though  a  liability  to  sin,  and  a  possibility 
of  departing  from  the  right  way,  may  always  be 
predicated  of  free  will  in  this  earthly  sphere,  yet 
there  is  a  state  of  comparative  fixedness  of  character 
even  in  this  life.  Mr.  Charles  Wesley  had  an  ap- 
prehension   of    this   when    he    wrote    the    following 

stanza  :  — 

"  My  steadfast  soul,  from  falling  free, 
Shall  then  no  longer  move ; 
But  Christ  be  all  the  world  to  me, 
And  all  my  heart  be  love." 

When  Christ  becomes  all  the  world  to   us,  it  is 


PARADISE     RESTOKED.  25 

hard  to  break  away  from  him.  When  urged  by 
temptation  to  do  it,  the  soul,  with  a  sense  of  the 
poverty  of  created  things,  and  their  inability  to 
satisfy  desires  that  aspire  to  the  Infinite,  at  once 
demands  of  the  tempter,  "  To  whom  shall  I  go  ? " 

If  one  is  tempted  to  feel  that  he  must  start  for 
the  Happy  Islands  alone,  and  that  he  will  find 
them  an  uninhabited  solitude,  it  is  enough  that  he 
can  say  with  Jesus,  "  I  am  not  alone,  but  the  Father 
is  witli  me."  And  if  one  feels  any  painful  fore- 
boding of  apostasy  from  Christ,  and  that  his  soul 
may  be  cast  upon  the  eternal  shore  a  moral  wreck, 
let  him  hasten  from  the  frontier  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  into  its  interior,  and  there,  with  his  soul 
deeply  fixed  in  God,  let  him  forever  rest. 

These  doubts  and  temptations  delayed  for  a  long 
time  the  voyage.  But  the  restless  soul  cried  out 
incessantly  for  the  supreme  good.  Having  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  a  holy  life,  and  become  enrap- 
tured with  its  moral  beauty,  the  heart  could  not  be 
contented  short  of  its  perfect  realization.  There 
was  a  more  painful  sense  of  the  emptiness  of 
worldly  things.  The  soul  was  "  blessed  with  the 
scorn  of  finite  good,"  until  at  length  it  was  brought 
3 


26  T  H  E     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

to  a  crisis  in  its  inward  history.  It  seemed  to  be 
a  question  of  spiritual  life  or  death.  Finally,  free 
will  summoned  all  her  energies,  and,  concentrating 
all  her  forces  into  one  volition,  the  purpose  was 
formed.  The  question  was  weighed,  the  cost  was 
counted,  and  the  resolution  deliberately  made  to 
start  at  once,  and,  if  need  be,  at  the  loss  of  all 
things,  to  search  the  ocean  through  until  the  Happy 
Islands  were  discovered. 

The  first  inquiry  was  for  a  vessel  that  might  be 
bound  thither,  which  could  be  prevailed  upon  to 
carry  me  to  the  desired  port.  Several  seaports 
were  visited  for  that  purpose,  but  in  vain.  At 
length  a  voice  was  heard  within  — "  Cease  ye  from 
man,  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils ;  for  wherein  is 
he  to  be  accounted  of?  "  (Isa.  ii.  22  ;)  and,  "  Cursed 
is  he  who  makcth  flesh  his  arm."  This  convinced 
me  that  the  voyage  must  be  undertaken  alone  and 
for  myself.  Gaining  all  the  information  it  was 
possible  to  acquire,  as  to  the  distance  of  the  isles, 
their  longitude  and  latitude,  and  what  would  be 
necessary  for  the  voyage,  which  I  needlessly  feared 
might  be  a  long  one,  I  embarked  on  board  a  boat 
named    the    Resolute,  at   a   city  and   harbor    called 


PAKADISE     KESXOjaED.  27 

Semivivum.  This  city  and  its  mixed  population, 
who  were  but  half  alive,  I  bade  adieu  forever. 
The  boat  seemed  to  be  well  built,  and  able  to  sur- 
vive the  fiercest  storm.  It  appeared  every  way 
adapted  to  the  voyage.  A  flag  was  run  up  to  the 
mast  head  bearing  the  expressive  motto,  "  Work 
and  Live.''  Nothing  of  much  interest  occurred  for 
several  days.  1  had  been  directed  to  guide  my 
course  by  the  Southern  Cross  instead  of  the  Polar 
Star.  My  eye  was  kept  steadily  fixed  on  that  beau- 
tiful symbol  which  the  hand  of  God  suspended  on 
the  midnight  heavens.  Coustantine  could  not  have 
been  more  affected  at  the  sight  of  the  cross  in  the 
heavens,  before  his  battle  with  his  enemies,  than 
was  I  when  struggling  all  alone  with  the  billows 
of  an  unknown  sea.  At  length,  just  as  the  sun 
was  disappearing  beneath  the  western  horizon,  sev- 
eral islands  were  seen  quietly  sleeping  on  the 
bosom  of  the  deep,  their  summits  gilded  with  the 
beams  of  the  setting  sun.  These  I  recognized  as 
the  land  I  sought,  the  home  of  the  blest,  the 
Happy  Isles  of  which  philosophers  had  dreamed, 
and  which  their  restless  souls  had  longed  to  be- 
hold.    The  setting  sun  had  given  me  a  glimpse  of 


28  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

them,  but  night  settled  on  the  deep,  and  they  were 
not  gained.  The  wind  no  longer  filled  the  sails, 
and  a  deep  and  powerful  current,  like  the  Gulf 
Stream,  Avas  bearing  the  boat  away  from  them.  I 
pierced  the  heavens  with  a  cry  for  a  gentle  breeze, 
but  the  colors  hung  down  the  mast.  Recollecting 
the  motto  they  bore,  "  Work  and  Live,"  I  threw 
off  all  my  useless  clothing,  and  seized  the  oars, 
resolved  to  work  the  boat  up  against  the  current. 
With  the  most  exhausting  labor,  the  vessel  only 
held  her  own.  It  seemed  to  me  like  what  we 
sometimes  experience  in  dreams,  when  we  appear 
to  ourselves  to  make  the  most  desperate  efforts  to 
fly  from  some  imaginary  foe,  but  find,  to  our  sor- 
row, that  we  do  not  in  the  least  move  from  our 
position.  My  efforts  were  like  the  strugglings  of 
a  prisoner  to  break  his  fetters,  who  is  only  galled 
and  pained  without  gaining  his  freedom.  Such 
were  the  inward  strugglings  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  to 
acquire  freedom  through  the  law.  (Rom.  vii.  14 
—25.)  The  current  was  too  strong  for  my  efforts. 
After  toiling  all  night,  the  attempt  to  bring  the 
boat  to  land  with  the  oars  was  given  up.  My 
next  measure  was  to   abandon  the   boat  and  swim 


PARADISE     KESTORED.  29 

to  the  shore.  Leaving  all  behind,  clothing,  pro- 
visions, and  money,  I  committed  myself  to  the 
deep.  While  raised  upon  the  top  of  a  mountain 
v/ave,  the  islands  were  seen  in  the  distance.  But 
the  tide  was  going  out,  and,  what  was  worse,  I 
was  well  nigh  exhausted,  though  my  will  clung  to 
the  principle  —  work  and  live.  At  length  my 
strength  was  gone,  and  in  the  depth  of  self-despair, 
I  ceased  to  work,  and  abandoned  the  idea  of 
struggling  into  life.  The  principle  so  dear  to  my 
heart  was  surrendered.  It  seemed  as  powerless  as 
Canute  the  Dane  seated  on  the  ocean  beach  and 
commanding  the  flowing  tide  to  retire.  Death 
seemed  inevitable.  I  must  sink.  I  ceased  to 
struggle,  calmly  crying  with  Peter,  "  Save,  Lord ; 
I  perish  ;  "  and  with  holy  Stephen,  "  Lord  Jesus, 
receive  my  spirit."  Resigning  my  soul  and  its 
will  wholly  to  Christ,  and  quitting  my  hold  of 
life,  and  every  earthly  thing,  in  some  way  un- 
known to  me,  I  was  carried  gently  in  the  arms 
of  a  mighty  billow,  and  left  upon  the  shore  as 
tenderly  as  a  mother's  love  lays  her  infant  down 
to  sleep. 

3^f 


30  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

"  Strong  Son  of  God,  immortal  Love, 
Whom  we,  that  have  not  seen  thy  face, 
By  faith,  and  faith  alone,  embrace, 

Believing  where  we  cannot  prove. 

Thou  seemest  human  and  divine. 
The  highest,  holiest  manhood  Thou ; 
Our  wills  are  ours,  we  know  not  how, 

Our  wills  are  ours  to  make  them  thine. 


Just  at  the  point  of  giving  up  all,  I  found  all. 
When  the  struggle  ceased  the  land  was  gained.  I 
sunk  into  the  bosom  of  the  Infinite  Life  and  all- 
pervading  Love. 

Naked,  faint,  and  destitute  of  all,  I  lay  upon  the 
beach.  Soon  a  being,  whom  it  is  impossible  to 
describe,  stood  before  me,  not  discerned  by  the 
outward  sense,  but  by  faith's  interior  eye,  which 
was  unveiled  to  behold  him.  No  term  can  better 
describe  his  appearance  than  the  expression,  Divine 
Man.  The  thick  veil  of  sense  with  which  the  spirit 
had  been  enshrouded  was  rent,  and  his  form  of 
majestic  sweetness  stood  disclosed  before  me,  and 
his  face  was  radiant  with  infinite  moral  beauty. 
He  fully  met  my  ideal  of  man.  In  all  other  men 
it  was  possible  to    find    only  an    imperfect    realiza- 


PAKADISE     RESTORED,  31 

tion  of  the  idea  of  man,  like  the  broken  and  half- 
buried  columns  of  some  ancient  temple,  which  were 
but  the  relics  of  ruined  greatness.  Even  in  the 
best  of  men  I  had  ever  been  pained  with  the  con- 
trast between  the  ideal  of  humanity  and  its  actual 
realization  in  their  character.  But  here  the  true 
conception  was  embodied  in  a  living  personality. 
The  rapturous  love  of  the  spouse  in  the  Canticles 
has  described  him,  where,  beneath  the  sensuous 
symbol,  faith  must  discern  the  spiritual  sense,  and 
where  divine  moral  beauty  gleams  through  the  out- 
ward letter,  like  sunshine  through  an  evening 
cloud.  "  My  beloved  is  white  and  ruddy,  the 
chiefest  among  ten  thousand.  His  head  is  as  the 
most  fine  gold ;  his  locks  are  bushy,  and  black  as 
a  raven.  His  eyes  are  as  the  eyes  of  doves  by  the 
rivers  of  waters,  washed  with  milk,  and  fitly  set. 
His  cheeks  are  as  a  bed  of  spices,  as  sweet  flowers ; 
his  lips  like  lilies,  dropping  sweet-smelling  myrrh. 
His  hands  are  as  gold  rings  set  with  the  beryl ;  his 
legs  are  as  pillars  of  marble,  set  upon  sockets  of  fine 
gold.  His  countenance  is  as  Lebanon,  excellent  as 
the  cedars.  His  mouth  is  most  sweet ;  yea,  he  is 
altogether  lovely."     (Canticles  v.  10-16.) 


32  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

This  was  an  hour  when  faith  broke  through  the 
envelope  of  outward  sense,  in  which  it  liad  been  in- 
crusted  and  imprisoned,  and  gazed  with  unveiled  face 
upon  the  more  solid  realities  of  eternal  things.  It 
was  an  hour  to  be  laid  up  in  everlasting  memorj'. 
An  eloquent  writer  has  asked,  "  Are  there  not  times 
when  the  soul  asserts  her  supremacy  over  the  earth- 
ly body,  and  even  her  independence  of  it,  and  rises 
into  a  realm  of  bliss  and  purity  which  the  body 
knows  not  of?  Yea,  when  the  body  hangs  about 
her  not  only  as  a  clog,  but  as  a  torturing  rack,  has 
she  not  soared  upward  and  left  it  stranded,  and  en- 
joyed converse  with  eternal  things  such  as  it  never 
helped  her  to  enjoy  ?  Apart  and  behind  the  wall 
of  sense,  have  we  never  been  caught  up  by  high 
communings  into  that  diviner  sphere,  where  are  the 
substances  of  which  earth  is  only   the   shadow,  — 

"  As  sings  the  lark  when  suclced  up  out  of  sight 
In  vortices  of  gloiy  and  blue  air  ? " 

Such  was  the  hour  of  my  landing  on  the  Happy 
Islands,  when  He  whose  countenance  was  like  Leb- 
anon seen  in  the  distance,  a  thing  of  unearthly 
beauty  and  quiet  majesty,  appeared  as  my  Support 


PARADISE     KE  STORED.  33 

and  Guide.  He  filled  the  emptiness  of  my  spirit 
with  divine  peace.  He  put  upon  me  a  robe  of 
spotless  white,  as  pure  as  the  untrodden  snow. 
Faint  with  hunger,  weary,  and  sighing  for  repose, 
I  said  to  him  who  had  taken  captive  my  heart, 
"  Tell  me,  O  thou  whom  my  soul  loveth,  where 
thou  feedest,  where  thou  makest  thy  flock  to  rest 
at  noon ;  for  why  should  I  be  as  a  wanderer  [or 
straggler  in  confusion]  by  the  flocks  of  thy  com- 
panions." His  words  flowed  into  my  soul  like 
music  from  a  celestial  harp,  as  he  replied,  "  Rise 
up,  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  away.  For 
lo,  the  winter  is  past ;  the  rain  is  over  and  gone ; 
the  flowers  appear  on  the  earth ;  the  time  of  the 
singing  of  birds  is  come,  and  the  voice  of  the 
turtle  is  heard  in  our  land ;  the  fig  tree  putteth 
forth  her  green  figs,  and  the  vines  with  the  tender 
grape  give  a  good  smell.  Arise,  my  love,  my  fair 
one,  and  come  away." 

Gladly  did  the  soul  follow  her  divine  Guide. 

"  His  robe  was  white  as  flakes  of  snow 
When  through  the  air  descending ; 
I  saw  the  clouds  beneath  him  melt, 
And  rainbows  o'er  him  bending !  — 


34  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK, 

And  then  a  voice  —  no,  not  a  voice  — 

A  deep  and  calm  revealing 
Came  through  me,  like  a  vesper  straia 

O'er  tranquil  waters  stealing. 

"And  ever  since  that  countenance 

Is  on  my  pathway  shining, 
A  sun  from  out  a  higher  sky, 

"Whose  light  knows  no  declining; 
All  day  it  falls  upon  my  road, 

To  keep  my  feet  from  straying, 
And  when  at  night  I  lay  me  down, 

I  fall  asleep  while  praying." 

The  mj-stery  of  my  gaining  the  Happy  Islands, 
juat  as  I  ceased  to  struggle,  was  afterwards  made 
plain  to  me.  The  great  condition  of  salvation  is 
to  be  willing  to  be  saved,  and  to  be  saved  without 
doing  any  thing  to  merit  it.  God  needs  no  en- 
treating to  make  him  willing  to  restore  us  fully 
to  our  lost  holiness,  as  if  it  were  a  work  which  he 
was  reluctant  to  undertake.  If  we  would  be  fully 
saved,  and  abide  in  the  peace  of  God,  we  must 
banish  all  such  jealous  feelings  of  him,  and  main- 
tain a  constant  assurance  that  he  loves  us  and  desires 
our  highest  good.  He  is  not  only  good,  but  is  good- 
ness itself  —  he  not  only  loves  us,  but  he  is  pure, 
unbounded  love  itself.     This  love  is  alwavs  available 


PARADISE     RESTOKED.  35 

to  the  soul.  It  is  coextensive  -with  his  being  and 
his  presence.  It  pervades  with  himself  all  space. 
It  is  the  all-surrounding  element  of  the  soul.  Such 
a  being  is  not  subject  to  any  sudden  caprice  of  pas- 
sion or  feeling.  His  love  is  not  a  transient  emotion, 
changeable  as  the  form  of  a  floating  summer  cloud, 
but  an  unchanging  nature.  He  loves  us  when  we 
are  fearful  he  does  not,  and  unbelief  has  forced  a 
barrier  between  us  and  his  infinite  Spirit,  and  shut 
us  out  from  the  enjoyment  of  his  love.  It  is  only 
a  want  of  affectionate  confidence  in  him  that  pre- 
vents our  enjoying  him  at  all  times.  Nothing  can 
separate  the  soul  from  an  interior  communion  with 
him,  and  open  a  chasm  between  us  and  the  Holy 
One,  but  unbelief,  ii  want  of  that  confiding  spirit, 
that  loving  trust  in  him,  which  hath  great  recom- 
pense of  reward.  This  faith  was  man's  original  state, 
and  salvation  is  the  reproduction  in  the  soul  of  that 
faith  in  which  it  was  created.  It  was  unbelief  that 
removed  man  from  the  paradisiacal  state,  and 
blighted  and  blaster]  all  the  fair  scene,  changing  it 
into  the  ante-chamber  of  hell.  When  the  soul  comes 
back  from  its  jealousy  of  God,  and  returns  to  that 
affectionate    confidence    it   has    lost,    and   maintains 


36  THE     HAPPY     ISLAXDS,     OR 

an  undoubting  persuasion  of  his  unchanging  and 
everlasting  love  thi'ough.  Christ,  paradise  is  repaired, 
its  long-absent  God  is  restored  to  the  spirit,  and 
it  enjoys  a  perpetual  and  blissful  intercourse  with 
his  all-pervading  presence.     Then  we  can  say,  — 

"  Where'er  I  am,  where'er  I  move, 
I  meet  the  object  of  my  love." 

It  is  faith  that  opens  the  heart,  and  the  infinite 
Spirit  again  flows  into  it,  as  says  Christ,  "  Behold 
I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock  :  if  any  man  hear 
my  voice,  and  open  the  door.  I  will  come  in  unto 
him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." 
Here  is  a  sensuous  image  of  spiritual  delights. 
To  feast  with  Christ,  to  recline  at  the  table  of 
God,  is  not  only  to  be  made  a  partaker  of  the 
divine  nature,  but  to  share  the  bliss  and  unutter- 
able repose  of  the  divine  Mind.  It  is  the  finite 
spirit  drinking  from  the  fountain  of  God"s  own 
pleasures.  This  is  more  than  the  fabled  ambrosia 
and  nectar  of  the  Greek  mythology  —  it  is  a  peace 
unknown  to  the  sensual  mind,  a  joy  unspeakable. 
The  attitude  of  Christ  before  the  door  of  the  heart, 
calling  with  his   voice,  and  knocking   to   arouse  the 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  37 

slumberer  within,  indicates  a  desire  on  his  part  to 
enter.  When  free  will  ceases  all  resistance,  and 
gives  way  before  his  infinite  love,  that  yearns  over 
us  to  do  us  good,  and  ends  all  its  inward  strag- 
glings to  grasp  salvation  in  its  own  strength,  and 
when  the  spirit  sin::s  into  the  bosom  of  the  divine 
love,  then  God  conies  into  its  hidden  recess,  and 
fills  all  its  powers,  just  as,  when  an  artificial 
embankment  gives  way,  the  ocean  overflows  the 
land. 

\yhen  we  cease  to  bolt  Christ  out  as  a  thief, 
and  invite  him  in  as  a  friend,  he  will  come  in 
and  spread  the  feast  of  God,  the  heavenly  manna. 

In  the  Meditations  of  Guigo,  one  of  the  distin- 
guished Christian  teachers  of  the  middle  age,  there 
seems  to  be  an  apprehension  of  the  way  in  which 
the  soul  must  reach  its  supreme  good  in  a  state 
of  inward  communion  with  God.  He  perceived, 
perhaps,  from  his  own  efi'orts  after  peace,  that  we 
cannot,  by  struggling,  break  the  fetters  of  the  spirit. 
In  the  above-named  work,  it  is  said,  "  The  way  to 
God  is  easy,  for  a  man  walks  in  it  by  unburdening 
himself.  It  would  be  hard  were  it  necessarv  for 
him  to  take  up  a  load.  Throw  oS"  then  every 
4 


38  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

burden,  by  denying  all  else  and  thyself."  (Neander's 
History  of  Christianity  and  the  Church,  vol.  iv. 
p.  413.)  How  forcibly  also  does  Tauler  say  to 
those  who  pant  for  deliverance  from  their  inward 
bondage,  "  Know  that,  shouldst  thou  let  thyself  be 
stabbed  a  thousand  times  a  day,  and  come  to  life 
again ;  shouldst  thou  let  thyself  be  strung  to  a 
wheel,  and  eat  thorns  and  stones ;  with  all  this  thou 
couldst  not  overcome  sin  of  thyself.  But  sink  thy- 
self into  the  deep,  unfathomable  mercy  of  God, 
with  a  humble,  submissive  will,  under  God,  and 
all  creatures,  and  know  then  that  Christ  alone 
would  give  it  thee,  out  of  his  great  kindness,  and 
free  goodness,  and  love,  and  compassion." 


PARABISE     RESIOliJiB.  3'J 


CHAPTER   II. 
A  DESCRIPTION    OF   THE   HAPPY   ISLANDS. 

The  Number  and  Names  of  the  Islands. — A  Description  of 
them. —  Staurosis. —  The  Altar  of  Repose, —  The  Covenant 
sic/ned.  —  Full  Coiisecration. —  The  Land  explored —  TJie  In- 
habitants. —  Locality  of  the  primitive  Paradise.  —  Christianity 
restores  Paradise.  —  First,  as  a  moral  State.  —  Secondly,  as 
an  external  Condition,  —  The  Elements  of  the  Paradisiacal 
State.  —  The  Beauties  and  Harmoiiies  of  the  outicard  World. 
—  Fellowship)  with  God.  —  Communion  of  holy  Souls.  —  The 
Inhabitants  of  the  Islands  not  niunerous.  —  Is  it  a  perma- 
nent state  ?  —  Bernard  of  Clairvauz. 

AFTER  A  voyage  unnecessarily  protracted  and 
difficult,  the  good  land  which  had  been  the 
object  of  my  search  was  gained.  The  islands  were 
found  to  be  seven  in  number,  and  were  called 
Staurosis,  Anapausis,  Plerophoria,  Euphrosyne, 
,Teleia  Agape,  Elcutheria,  Henotia.  In  our  lan- 
guage they  are  called  Entire  Consecration,  Rest, 
Full  Assurance  of  Faith,  Fulness  of  Joy,  Perfect 
Love,  Liberty,  and  Divine  Union.     They  were  not 


40  X  H  K     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

situated  far  from  eacli  other,  and  the  passage  from 

one    to    the    other    was    easy.     Below    the    surface 

they  were  united,  and    constituted  but  one  system. 

They    were     arranged    at    nearly     equal     distances 

around    Henotia,    or    Divine    Union,    which    seemed 

to  be  the    centre    of   the    group.     There  were    also 

in  the  distance  several  smaller   isles,  that  appeared 

full  of  beauty,  and  were  far  better  than  the  land  I 

had  left.     But  it  will  be  necessary  to  describe  only 

the  seven  principal   ones.     The   island    on   which  I 

had   been   cast  was   Staurosis.     It  was  in   the  form 

of  a  cross,  as  it  lay  upon  the  bosom  of  the  deep.     It 

appeared,  when  seen  in  the  distance,  the  least  lovely 

of  the  whole  group ;  yet  all  who  came  to  the  Happy 

Islands  must  land   here,  as    it    contained    the    only 

harbor  accessible  to  ships.     As  the  voyager  observes 

it  at  a  distance  it  appears  somev>-hat  repulsive,  but 

it  constitutes  the  gate  to  this  earthly  Paradise.     It 

is  surrounded  by  high    and    precipitous    rocks,  and 

no  verdure  can  be  seen.     I  observed  a  few  solitary, 

dry  trees,  looking    like    the    skeleton   of  what  they 

• 
once    were,    standing    upon    the    brow    of  a   barren 

cliff.     The    top    of  the    island,    one  would  suppose, 

must  be  the  court  of  the  angel  of  death,  instead  of 


P  A  R  A  JJ  I  S  E     II  K  S  T  O  K  K  B  .  41 

the  palace  of  life.  The  summit  appeared  wholly 
inaccessible,  but  the  ascent  to  it  was  less  difficult 
than  it  seemed,  though  it  is  certain  no  one  with- 
out aid  could  ever  find  the  safe  path  or  walk  in  it. 
But  the  Divine  Man  who  met  me  on  the  beach 
kindly  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  by  his  aid  and 
guidance  I  clambered  up  the  rocks  without  much 
effort.  Whenever  my  foot  slipped,  and  I  was  in 
danger  of  falling  into  the  abyss  below,  he  caught 
me.  Sometimes  he  bore  me  in  his  arms  as  a  shep- 
herd would  carry  a  sick  lamb.  At  times  I  went 
forward  leaning  upon  his  shoulder.  Though  the 
island  was  lofty,  and  apparently  so  difficult  of  ac- 
cess, yet  when  the  summit  was  gained,  and  the 
interior  reached,  there  was  spread  out  before  me  a 
scene  of  surpassing  loveliness.  It  was  full  of  di- 
vine beauty.  Never  had  my  eye  beheld  so  delight- 
ful a  place.  Though  in  the  distance  it  had 
aj'jpeared  bleak  and  desolate,  yet  when  the  summit 
was  gained,  a  residence  fit  for  the  angels  was  found. 
The  soul  felt,  on  reaching  this  lovely  place,  like 
the  traveller  who  has  wandered  over  the  earth, 
and  at  length,  escaping  from  all  his  perils  by  sea 
and  land,    comes    in    sight    of   the    quiet    spot    that 


42  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

gave  him  birth,  and  the  sweet  home  whose  image 
had  followed  him  in  all  his  roamings.  So  now  I 
felt  that  home  was  gained  at  last. 

My  divine  Guide  directed  me  at  first  to  a  spot 
in  a  sequestered  vale,  where  was  a  large  flat  rock 
in  shape  of  an  altar,  covered  with  a  downy  moss, 
and  standing  in  the  midst  of  flowers.  On  this  I 
was  directed  to  lie  down  and  rest.  I  closed  my 
eyes  upon  all  created  things,  and  sunk  into  a  di- 
vine repose.  It  was  the  state  described  by  the 
spouse,  "  I  sleep,  but  my  heart  waketh."  In  this 
divine  slumber  which  steals  over  the  wearied  spirit, 
it  ceases  from  all  eflbrt  in  thinking,  all  clamorous 
desires  are  silenced,  and  the  mind  loses  itself  in  the 
depths  of  God.  Earthly  images  fade  away,  and  the 
soul  floats  sweetly  inward  from  the  circumference, 
becoming  tranquilly  fixed  upon  its  divine  centre. 
This  divine  slumber  is  necessary  to  the  rest  of  the 
powers  of  the  soul,  and  to  recruit  its  energies  for 
the  renewed  battle  of  life.  The  spirit  sleeps  in  God. 
Perhaps  the  Psalmist  refers  to  this  when  he  says, 
"  He  giveth  his  beloved  sleep."  (Ps.  cxxvii.  2.) 
The  sold  lies  becalmed  on  the  ocean  of  God's  pres- 
ence.    Fenelon  speaks   from   the   depths  of  his  own 


P  A  11  A  D  I  S  E     K  i;  S  T  O  li  E  I)  .  43 

inward  experience,  when  he  says,  in  his  Pious 
Thoughts,  that,  "  the  presence  of  God  calms  tlie 
spirit,  gives  a  peaceful  slumber  and  repose,  even 
during  the  daytime,  and  in  the  midst  of  all  our 
labors."  How  sweet  thus,  with  the  mind  free  from 
all  disturbing  emotions  and  desires,  and  all  active 
labored  thought,  to  fall  into  a  divine  slumber,  as 
gentle  as  that  of  an  infant,  to  hide  ourselves,  in 
the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  from  all  care 
and  anxiety,  and  in  inward  silence  to  sympathize 
with  the  infinite  repose  of  God.  There  arc  times 
after  long-continued  thought  and  exertion  of  our 
powers  in  the  work  of  the  Master,  when  the  soul 
needs  not  ecstatic  bliss,  but  only  asks  for  rest. 
This  holy  slumber  is  not  perhaps  designed  to  be  a 
permanent  state,  but  is  enjoyed  only  as  the  soul 
needs  repose.  Then,  with  its  tired  energies,  it  lies 
down  in  the  ante-chamber  of  heaven,  and  sweetly 
sleeps  in  the  Lord.  "  There  remaineth  a  rest  to 
the  people  of  God." 

While  resting  upon  this  altar,  there  sweetly 
float  out  from  the  soul  into  the  listening  ear  of  a 
present  God  the  words,  "  Here,  Lord,  I  give  myself 
away.      I   present  to   thee  my  body,    and   my  whole 


44  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

inward  being,  a  living  sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable 
in  thy  sight."  No  one  can  explore  the  Happy  Isl- 
ands until  he  has  deposited  his  will  at  the  feet  of 
Christ,  and  delivered  over  the  keeping  of  it  into  the 
hands  of  the  highest  Wisdom  and  Goodness.  In 
reaching  a  state  of  complete  consecration,  Ave  some- 
times suppose  we  must  give  to  our  divine  Benefactor 
a  list  of  all  our  possessions,  making  them  over  to  him 
one  by  one.  But  there  is  a  shorter  method  of 
reaching  this  desired  position.  If  we  give  to  him 
our  will,  we  give  to  him  all  that  our  will  controls, 
which  is  the  extent  of  the  divine  requirement. 
Whoever  says,  "  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  O  God," 
will  find  in  that  surrendeiN  and  self-abandonment 
the  vital  germ   of  a  holy   disposition   and  life. 

When  I  arose,  my  attention  was  arrested  by  the 
mountain  side  which  bounded  this  sequestered  vale. 
The  perpendicular  rock,  which  was  like  polished 
marble,  rose  to  a  great  height.  Near  the  summit 
this  inscription  was  plainly  seen,  deeply  cut  in  large 
gilt  letters,  and  surmounted  by  a  golden  cross : 
"  Here  I  relinquish  all,  and  take  God,  the  infinite 
and  uncreated  Good,  for  my  sole  portion  and  inher- 
itance, aiming  to  enjoy   him  in  all  things,   and  all 


PAKADISE     KESTOIiEX).  45 

things  in  him.  I  will  seek  no  good  out  of  him 
and  separate  from  him.  In  return  for  so  great  a 
treasure,  my  poor  self,  with  all  its  powers,  shall 
be  unreservedly  his  forever.  I  will  love,  serve, 
and  obey  him  with  all  my  heart,  asking  no  return 
but  himself."  I  ascertained  from  my  Guide  that 
all  v%'ho  contemplated  a  residence  in  the  Happy 
Islands  must  subscribe  this  New  Covenant.  Hence 
the  mountain  side  was  covered  with  uames,  sonic 
of  which  were  familiar  to  me.  There  were  seen 
engraved  in  the  solid  rock  the  names  of  Anselm  of 
Canterbury,  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  Raymund  Lull, 
Thomas  a  Kempis,  Tauler,  Ruysbrock,  Fenelon, 
Madame  Guyon,  John  and  Charles  Wesley,  Mr. 
Fletcher  and  his  devoted  wife,  Elizabeth  Rowe, 
Hester  Ann  Rogers,  Carvasso,  Bramwell,  Payson, 
Bunyan,  Baxter,  and  innumerable  other  honored 
and  sainted  names.  When  it  was  observed  that 
these  holy  men  and  women  had  long  resided  in 
this  happy  region,  surely,  thought  I,  "  Ave  are  not 
come  unto  the  mount  that  might  be  touched,  and 
that  burned  with  fire,  nor  unto  blackness,  and 
darkness,  and  tempest,  but  v/e  are  come  unto 
Mount  Sion,  and  unto   the  city  of   the  living  God, 


46  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innumerable 
company  of  angels,  to  the  general  assembly  and 
church  of  the  first  born  which  are  written  in  heaven, 
and  to  God  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of 
just  men  made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus  the  mediator 
of  the  new  covenant,  and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling, 
that  speaketh  better  things  than  that  of  Abel." 
(Heb.  xii.  18-24.)  With  a  diamond  kept  for  the 
purpose,  I  felt  it  an  unspeakable  privilege  and 
honor  to  record  my  worthless  name  beneath  all  the 
rest.  Falling  upon  my  knees,  it  was  written  with 
the  point  of  the  diamond  in  the  rock  forever. 

Being  inwardly  refreshed  and  recovered  from  all 
weariness,  having  renewed  my  strength,  I  set  my- 
self to  acquire  a  perfect  knowledge  of  these  de- 
lightful islands,  which  seemed  a  fit  residence  for 
our  first  parents  in  their  original  innocence.  The 
poets  had  never  in  their  loftiest  imaginings  de- 
scribed a  more  lovely  spot  than  was  here  actually 
spread  out  before  me.  It  was  more  than  the  cele- 
brated groves  of  Daphne,  near  Antioch,  or  the 
valley  of  Tacoronte,  amid  the  solitudes  of  Mount 
Tenerifi'e,  which  Humboldt  pronounces  the  most 
beautiful    spot    in    the    world  :     here    was    a   place 


PAKADISE     RESTORED.  47 

surpassing  in  divine  beauty  the  celebrated  vale  of 
Tempo,  where  the  eye  revels  in  a  scene  of  loveliness, 
and  which  a  Greek  writer  calls  "  a  festival  for  the 
eyes."  I  saw  fountains  glittering  in  the  sun,  and 
raining  pearls  ;  gentle  rivulets  reflecting  from  their 
silvery  surface  the  heavens  above  ;  gravelled  walks 
lined  with  flowers,  and  sometimes  passing  through 
long  arbors  and  arches  of  blossoming  vines  ;  cascades 
tumbling  down  the  hill-sides,  becoming  brooks  roll- 
ing over  golden  sands,  and  meandering  through 
fertile  meadows.  Here  were  flowers  that  seemed 
relics  of  Paradise,  which  were  never  blasted  by 
wintry  frosts.  These  were  not  arranged  with  the 
stiff"  formality  of  art,  but  scattered  about  in  rich 
profusion  on  the  hills,  and  plains,  and  in  the  vales, 
and  lining  the  banks  of  gently  flowing  rivers. 
There  were  clusters  or  miniature  forests  of  all  beau- 
tiful trees,  not  inaccessible  from  matted  briers  and 
thorns,  but  open  and  carpeted  with  green  grass, 
making  natural  bowers,  inviting  the  soul  to  repose 
and  divine  contemplation.  Fruits  of  every  kind  and 
of  richest  taste  every  where  met  the  eye,  urging  man 
to  leave  the  feast  of  blood,  on  which  depravity  has 
revelled,  and  come   back  to   the   primitive   food   of 


48  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

Eden.  Vines  laden  with  their  tempting  clusters 
climbed  the  trees  and  clothed  the  naked *i"ocks  with 
verdure.  Here  were  lakes  sleeping  in  their  quiet 
beauty  among  the  hills,  on  which  the  moonbeams 
sweetly  reposed  at  night,  and  which  were  dotted 
with  verdant  isles.  The  air  was  soft  and  balmy, 
pure  as  the  celestial  ether,  and  perfumed  like  the 
breezes  of  Arabia  Felix,  the  land  of  frankincense, 
spices,  and  myrrh.  It  diffused  a  delightful  tran- 
quillity through  the  whole  system.  The  sun  did 
not  smite  by  day,  nor  the  moon  by  night.  "  Stern 
winter  smiles  on  that  auspicious  clime."  Here  were 
birds  of  the  richest  plumage  and  sweetest  song,  who 
flew  from  branch  to  branch  unalarmed  at  the  ap- 
proach of  man,  delighting  to  receive  their  food  from 
the  hands  of  children.  The  lark  filled  the  grove  with 
her  melody,  and  the  swan  floated  upon  the  lake  a 
buoyant  and  beautiful  thing,  fashioned  by  the  Cre- 
ator to  adorn  the  waste  of  waters.  The  animals 
were  tame  as  they  once  were  in  Eden,  and  dwelt 
in  mutual  peace  and  love.  The  deer  came  forth 
from  the  forest  to  meet  and  welcome  the  approach 
of  man.  The  vision  of  the  prophet  seemed  to  be 
realized  — "  The   wolf   shall    dwell  with    the    lamb. 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  49 

and  the  leopard  shall  lie  down  with  the  kid ;  and 
they  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy 
mountain."  In  all  this  scene  of  beauty  which  was 
spread  before  the  eye  of  sense,  faith  saw  God.  It 
was  this  that  made  it  appear  so  lovely  to  the  pu- 
rified soul.  Outward  nature  was  not  viewed  as 
something  existing  separate  from  him.  These  things 
had  their  root  in  the  Divine  Life  itself.  He  did 
not  create  them  and  then  leave  them,  but  creates 
them  every  moment  out  of  himself.  In  the  Happy 
Isles  the  soul  can  say  with  the  poet  Moore,  — 

"  Thou  art,  O  God,  the  life  and  light 

Of  all  this  wondrous  world  we  see; 
Its  glow  by  day,  its  smile  by  night. 

Are  but  reflections  caught  from  thee. 
Where'er  we  turn  thy  glories  shine. 
And  all  things  fair  and  bright  are  thine." 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Happy  Islands  bore  a 
striking  resemblance  to  the  lovely  being  whom  I 
had  first  met.  They  were  clothed  in  flo%ving  robes 
white  as  the  newly-fallen  snow,  a  fine  linen,  soft 
as  silk.  Here  they  dwelt  in  innocence  and  love, 
each  rejoicing  in  the  happiness  of  others  as  much 
as  in  his  own,  and  united  to  each  other  by  the 
5 


50  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

strongest  possible  bond  —  the  common  love  of  God. 
Their  countenance  was  radiant  with  divine  peace, 
which  moulded  the  features  into  a  form  which  be- 
came its  outward  and  permanent  expression.  There 
was  a  divine  cheerfulness  which  pervaded  this  re- 
deemed society.  They  walked  in  holy  communion 
with  God,  and  in  an  endearing  fellowship  with 
each  other.  Here  was  a  fulfilment  of  the  promise, 
"  All  thy  people  shall  be  righteous."  They  were 
a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  generation,  a  peculiar 
people.  Their  prayers  went  up  at  all  times  from 
a  thousand  shady  bowers,  or  vine-clad  cottages. 
The  hills  were  vocal  with  praise.  Here  no  crime 
was  ever  committed,  no  unhallowed  thought  entered, 
no  vulgar  or  profane  expression  polluted  the  atmos- 
phere. No  brawls  and  drunken  revellings  broke  the 
silence  of  midnight.  In  a  word,  here  Christ  lived 
and  reigned  as  the  Restorer  of  Paradise.  In  this 
spot  he  began  to  open  the  golden  gates  of  a  celestial 
day,  and  to  pour  the  "  living  light  of  heaven  "  upon 
the  moral  gloom  of  a  sin-ruined  world.  Here  Chris- 
tianity entered  upon  the  last  stadium  of  its  earthly 
progress,  and  exhibited  the  commencement  of  its 
millennial  development. 


PARADISE     KESXOKED.  51 

There  had  once  been  in  the  world  a  spot  called 
Paradise,  situated  somewhere  in  the  territory  called 
Eden.  (Gen.  ii.  8,  9.)  Where  it  was  has  faded 
from  human  recollection.  The  mind  of  the  race 
has  longed  to  find  it,  and  identify  the  place  where 
dwelt  the  primitive  innocence.  With  little  to 
guide  the  search  but  imagination,  it  has  been  lo- 
cated in  various  jDlaces  —  in  the  third  heaven,  in 
the  orb  of  the  moon,  in  the  middle  region  of  the 
air,  above  the  earth  and  under  the  earth,  in  a 
realm  hidden  from  the  knowledge  of  men,  in  the 
place  possessed  at  present  by  the  Caspian  Sea,  in 
the  north  of  Europe,  especially  in  Prussia.  Men 
have  looked  for  it  in  Asia,  Africa,  Europe,  and 
America ;  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  and  the 
Ganges,  in  the  Isle  of  Ceylon,  and  in  Mesopota- 
mia ;  some  have  found  it,  as  they  supposed,  near 
the  city  of  Damascus,  and  others  among  the  "  blame- 
less Ethiopians,"  near  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon. 
That  happy  and  holy  place,  where  man  dwelt  in 
innocence  and  love,  and  walked  with  God  in  un- 
sullied bliss,  has  long  ago  disappeared  from  the 
world.  Its  existence  is  still  faintly  attested  in  the 
heathen    world,    by    the    prevalent    tradition    of    a 


52  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

golden  age,  Avhen  God  dwelt  with  men,  and  men 
in  peace  with  each  other.  This  fond  remembrance 
lingers  in  the  heart  of  humanity  like  the  summer's 
twilight  after  the  sun  has  sunk  behind  the  western 
hills.  The  restless  soul  loves  to  revel  in  this  tradi- 
tionary twilight,  and  inwardly  yearns  to  hail  again 
the  rising  sun.  It  was  sin  that  blotted  out  Paradise 
from  the  earth.  There  is  profound  truth  in  the 
poetry  of  Milton,  that  when  our  first  parents  sinned, 
"  Earth  felt  the  wound,  and  nature  sighed  through 
all  her  works."  Sin  entered  the  soul,  and  Paradise 
vanished  from  the  map  of  the  mind.  For  it  was 
not  so  much  a  phj'sical  change  in  the  outward  world, 
as  a  change  in  the  moral  standing-ground  from 
which  nature  was  viewed,  and  in  the  spiritual  me- 
dium through  which  the  soul  gazes  upon  the  divine 
arrangements  of  the  material  universe.* 


*  Professor  Schleiden  has  truly  remarked  that  the  earth  in 
itself  is  neither  fair  nor  foul,  but  all  our  pleasure  in  beholding 
it  is  from  the  human  spirit,  -which  has  received  from  God  the 
gift  to  feel  beauty  in  all  that  surrounds  us.  {Poetry  of  the 
Vegetable  World,  p.  33.)  It  is  the  condition  of  the  powers  of  oiu: 
souls  which  lends  to  earth  all  its  charms.  It  is  fair  to  suppose 
that  brutes  discern  nothing  of  the  kind  in  the  things  around 
them. 


PARADISE     KE  STOKED.  53 

Paradise  was  expunged  by  sin  from  the  map  of 
the  human  spirit,  and  will  be  restored  when  man 
is  raised  by  Christ  and  Christianity  to  his  original 
moral  position,  and  the  soul  again  reflects  the 
heavenly  things,  just  as  the  placid  lake  at  night 
mirrors  from  its  glassy  surface  the  celestial  orbs. 
Paradise  must  be  sought  within,  and  will  be  found 
in  that  spirit  which  makes  a  prison  a  palace,  and 
December  as  pleasant  as  May. 

It  is  the  mission  of  Christianity  to  restore  to 
earth  its  lost  Paradise.  It  has  pleased  God  that 
there  should  ever  be  a  harmony  and  correspondence 
between  man's  moral  character  and  his  external 
condition.  When  sin  entered  into  the  world,  Par- 
adise became  an  unsuitable  residence  for  the  race, 
as  it  did  not  correspond  to  his  character,  and  was 
not  suited  to  be  the  theatre  of  the  discipline  of  a 
race  of  sinners.  But  it  is  not  forever  lost  to  the 
world.  It  shall  be  restored  by  Christ.  This  has 
ever  been  the  expectation  of  the  world.  The 
heathen  while  they  cast  a  longing  look  back  to 
the  golden  age  which  had  fled,  looked  forward 
with  hope  to  its  return.  The  sentiment  prevailed 
extensively  in    the    Gentile   world,   just    before    the 


54  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

advent  of  the  Messiah,  that  the  glad  era  of  its  resto- 
ration was  about  to  dawn  upon  the  world.  The 
Jews  connected  the  reappearance  of  the  paradisiacal 
state  with  the  coming  of  the  Christ.  No  one  can 
fail  to  observe  this  who  reads  the  glowing  descrip- 
tions of  the  Messianic  age  in  the  Hebrew  prophets. 
All  nature  would  sympathize  with  the  coming  of 
the  great  Restorer.  The  wilderness  and  the  soli- 
tary place  should  be  glad,  and  the  desert  should 
rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  He  would  com- 
fort Zion  and  all  her  waste  places,  and  make  her 
wilderness  like  Eden,  and  her  desert  like  the  gar- 
den of  the  Lord.  There  should  be  joy  and  glad- 
ness therein,  thanksgiving  and  the  voice  of  mglody. 
Springs  would  break  forth  in  the  sandy  plains. 
The  adornments  and  excellences  that  still  remain 
in  the  sin-blasted  earth  were  to  be  greatly  increased. 
The  light  of  the  moon  would  be  as  the  light  of 
the  sun,  and  the  light  of  the  sun  sevenfold,  as 
the  light  of  seven  days,  in  the  day  when  the  Lord 
should  bind  up  the  breach  of  his  people,  and  heal 
the  stroke  of  their  wound.  The  discords  which 
had  followed  the  fixll,  and  been  introduced  by  the 
disturbing   influence    of  sin,    were   to    subside    into 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  55 

di\-ine  harmony.  The  wolf  would  dwell  with  the 
lamb,  and  the  leopard  would  lie  down  with  the 
kid,  and  the  calf  and  the  young  lion  and  the  fat- 
ling  together,  and  a  little  child  should  lead  them. 
Men  should  bruise  their  swords  into  ploughshares 
and  their  spears  into  pruning  hooks  ;  nation  should 
not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither  should 
they  learn  war  any  more.  There  shall  be  a  sub- 
stantial fulfilment  of  these  prophetic  announcements, 
for  not  one  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Lord  shall  fall  to  the  ground.  This  resto- 
ration of  nature  in  the  Messianic  times,  by  the 
Jewish  prophets,  may  be  thought  only  emblematic 
of  the  higher  moral  and  intellectual  recovery  of  the 
race  by  earth's  living  Redeemer.  It  is  admitted 
that  this  is  symbolical  of  that  new  moral  creation 
which  was  to  go  forth  from  Christ  and  Christianity ; 
and  yet  we  aver  that  there  is  an  objective  truth 
underlying  these  glowing  predictions.  The  rees- 
tablishment  of  the  original  harmony  between  the 
natural  and  moral  world  is  one  of  the  aims  of 
the  redemptive  scheme.  One  of  the  elements  of 
the  paradisiacal  state  is  found  in  the  beauties  and 
harmonies    of    outward   nature.     Christianity    shall 


56  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

restore  all  this  to  the  world  in  two  ways,  one  of 
them  subjective,  and  the  other  objective.  Christ 
shall  heal  earth's  dreadful  wound,  and  open  also  in 
the  souls  of  men  an  inward  sense  for  the  appre- 
ciation and  enjoymertt  of  the  beauties  of  nature 
already  existing.  Before  the  soul  of  man  can  fully 
perceive  and  enjoy  the  beauty  of  the  outward  world 
already  existing,  it  must  be  placed  in  the  proper 
moral  attitude  while  he  views  it.  This  is  the  truth 
at  bottom  in  the  words  of  Christ,  (Matt.  v.  5,) 
"  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the 
earth."  With  the  first  beginnings  of  the  soul's 
restoration  the  appearance  of  outward  nature  is 
changed.  No  sooner  does  the  love  of  God  for  his 
own  sake,  as  the  most  perfect  being,  possessing 
infinite  moral  beauty,  find  a  place  in  the  human 
soul,  than  nature  is  felt  to  possess  new  charms, 
and  earth  becomes  like  Banyan's  Delectable  Moun- 
tains or  Land  of  Beulah.  How  often  is  the  remark 
made  by  such  a  person  that  all  things  seem  to  be 
new  !  The  new  moral  creation  within  is  reflected 
upon  things  without,  and  there  appear  to  be  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth,  because  they  are  beheld 
through  the  medium  of  new  feelina;s   and  are  seen 


PARADISE     RESTORIiD.  57 

from  a  different  stand-point.  The  harmony  of  the 
restored  moral  nature  mth  the  outward  world 
deepens  with  the  progress  of  the  redeemed  spirit 
in  holiness.  It  sees  in  the  beautiful  moving  forms 
of  earth  what  Jerome  calls  radios  Deitatis,  radia- 
tions of  the  Deity,  and  emanations  of  the  beauty 
of  the  Lord.  The  pure  in  heart  see  all  things  to 
be  full  of  God,  and  the  whole  material  universe  is 
viewed,  in  a  certain  sense,  as  Deum  explicatum,  the 
unfoldings  or  manifestations  of  God.  The  succes- 
sive seasons,  with  the  beauties  and  harmonies  be- 
longing to  each,  are  exhibitions  of  the  Deity. 

"These,  as  they  change,  almighty  Father,  these 
Are  but  the  varied  God.     The  rolling  year 
Is  full  of  thee." 

The  earth,  though  sympathizing  with  the  moral 
disorders  of  mankind,  still  exhibits  traces  of  its 
original  perfection,  some  lingering  marks  of  its 
paradisiacal  order  and  bloom.  Enough  of  its  origi- 
nal beauty  gleams  through  its  present  disorder  to 
convince  us  that  it  was  not  made  to  be  the  abode 
of  sin,  and  of  beings  made  miserable  by  sin.  Those 
who  complain  of  the  outward  world  as  an  unsuit- 
able residence  for  man,  will    find  the  seat  of  their 


58  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

misery  within  their  own  hearts.  Montgomery,  who 
had  a  soul  fitted  to  appreciate  the  beauties  of  na- 
ture, remarks,  that  "  the  earth,  arrayed  in  verdure, 
adorned  with  flowers,  diversified  with  hill  and  dale, 
forest  and  glade,  fountains  and  running  streams, 
engirdled  with  the  ocean,  over-canopied  with  heav- 
en, —  this  earth,  so  smiling  and  fruitful,  so  commo- 
dious and  magnificent,  is  altogether  worthy  of  its 
Maker,  and  not  only  a  fit  habitation  for  man  cre- 
ated in  the  image  of  God,  but  a  place  which 
angels  might  delight  to  visit  on  embassies  of  love." 
(^Lectures  on  Poetry,  p.  52.)  It  is  only  the  pure 
in  heart  who  can  fully  enjoy  so  fair  a  world  as 
even  this.  Sin  draws  a  veil  over  the  beautiful 
creations  of  the  divine  hand.  But  the  earth  is  full 
of  divine  radiance,  and  the  relics  of  its  original 
adornment.  The  redeemed  spirit,  adjusted  in  har- 
mony with  all  that  is  divine,  finds  them  on  every 
hand.     Such  a  soul  — 

"makes  music  with  the  common  strings 
With  which  the  world  is  strung,  and  makes  the  dumb 
Earth  utter  heavenly  harmony." 

This  is  a  subjective  restoration  of  the  earth.     It 
is  like    the    opening    of   the    eyes   of  the    blind    to 


PARADISE     RESTOKED.  59 

behold  beauties  wbich  had  eyer  been  invisible. 
But  there  shall  be  an  objective  restoration  of  the 
earth.  This  is  the  truth  underlying  that  obscure 
prophecy  in  Rom.  viii.  19-21:  "For  the  earnest 
expectation  of  the  creation  .  waiteth  for  the  mani- 
festation of  the  sons  of  God.  For  the  creation 
was  made  subject  to  vanity,  not  willingly,  but  by 
reason  of  Him  who  hath  subjected  the  same  in 
hope ;  because  the  creation  itself  also  shall  be  de- 
livered from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God."  A  re- 
stored nature  has  ever  kept  even  pace  with  the 
progress  of  human  redemption ;  in  fact,  it  is  a  part 
of  redemption.  In  whatever  nation  there  is  the 
most  of  Christianity,  we  find  there  external  naturt 
approaches  the  nearest  to  the  original  Paradise. 
Look  at  England  or  America  in  their  heathen  state, 
and  those  same  countries  now  as  constituting  a  part 
of  the  domain  of  Christianity.  It  is  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  vision  of  the  prophet."  In  the  wil- 
derness shall  waters  break  out,  and  streams  in 
the  desert.  And  the  parched  ground  shall  become 
a  pool,  and  the  thirsty  land  springs  of  water.  In 
the  habitation  of  dragons,  where  each  lay,  shall  be 


60  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

grass,  witli  reeds  and  rushes."  (Isa.  xxxv.  6,  7.) 
See  this  principle  illustrated  in  Germany  as  it  was 
in  the  age  of  Tacitus,  and  Germany  now.  In  Ire- 
land the  traveller  can  tell  a  Protestant  from  a 
Catholic  county  by  the  appearance  of  the  outward 
Avorld.  One  has  told  me  that  if  he  were  set  down 
blindfolded  any  where,  he  could  tell,  when  the  ban- 
dage was  removed,  whether  he  was  in  a  Protestant 
or  Catholic  region.  Why  this  ?  It  is  because  the 
restoration  of  nature  keeps  even  pace  with  the 
onward  march  of  Christ's  redemptive  work,  and 
just  in  proportion  as  the  intellectual  and  moral 
image  of  God  is  restored  to  the  soul,  will  Para- 
dise begin  to  bloom  without.  The  miracles  of 
Christ,  among  other  and  higher  aims,  have  demon- 
strated that  nature  is  passive  in  his  hands,  and 
that  her  laAvs  yield  at  once  to  the  fiat  of  a  present 
God,  And  if  Christianity  has  done  so  much  for 
the  outward  world,  notwithstanding  its  imperfect 
triumphs  even  in  Christian  lands,  what  would  it 
accomplish  in  a  country  where  it  has  fully  pene- 
trated and  appropriated  the  mind  of  the  people, 
and  love  has  become  the  ruling  clement  of  society  ? 
In  the  Happy  Islands    such  was  the    case,     Conse- 


PAKADISE     KESTOKED.  61 

queutly    the    outward    ■world    was    restored    to    its 
original  beauty  and  harmony. 

Another  element  of  the  moral  state  we  call  Par- 
adise was  a  living  fellowship  with  God.  Without 
this  there  could  have  been  no  Paradise,  how-ever 
beautiful  and  pleasant  might  have  been  the  place 
■where  man  lived.  Adam  walked  with  God  in  un- 
broken communion  of  spirit. 

'■Not  all  the  harps  above 
Can  make  a  happy  place, 
If  God  his  residence  remove, 
Or  but  conceal  his  face. 

Xor  earth,  nor  all  the  skj-, 

Can  one  delight  afford, 
Nor  yield  one  drop  of  real  joy, 

AVithout  thy  presence,  Lord. 

"  Thou  art  the  sea  of  love, 

"Where  all  my  pleasures  roll, 
The  circle  -where  my  passions  move, 
And  centre  of  my  soul." 

This  heavenly  communion,  this  divine  society, 
was  broken  up  by  sin.  The  soul  ■vvas  sundered 
from  God,  and  estranged  from  him.  Through  the 
disjunctive  agency  of  sin,  Adam  fled  from  God,  and 
all  the  race  in  him.  There  sprang  up  in  his  soul 
6 


62  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

a  sense  of  distance  between  liim  and  the  Holy 
One.  The  mutual  attraction  founded  upon  a  har- 
mony and  affinity  of  nature  ceased  to  draw  the 
infinite  and  finite  spirits  together.  But  what  we  lost 
in  Adam  the  redeemed  soul  has  gained  in  Christ. 
Christianity  brings  the  sanctified  spirit,  when  the 
separating  veil  is  rent  away,  and  the  middle  wall  of 
partition  removed,  and  faith's  interior  eye  opened, 
into  a  nearer  and  closer  relation  to  God,  and  union 
with  him,  than  was  ever  seen  in  Paradise.  God 
in  human  form  is  not  now,  as  then,  a  mere  ap- 
pearance, but  an  objective  reality,  a  living  and 
eternal  truth.  By  the  assumption  of  human  nature, 
God  is  joined  to  man  in  a  nearer  and  diviner  fel- 
lowship than  in  Eden.  Paradise  had  no  incarna- 
tion. This  was  the  mystery,  as  St.  Paul  declares, 
that  was  hid  from  ages,  until  Heaven  broke  the 
seals  in  Bethlehem,  and  the  greatest  truth  in  the 
universe  flashed  upon  the  world,  and  God  was  man- 
ifest in  the  flesh.  But  did  not  Adam  see  God, 
and  hear  his  voice,  amid  the  blissful  groves  of  Par- 
adise ?  It  is  certain  that  he  did ;  and  does  not 
Christ  say,  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they 
shall    see    God "  r     Holiness    in    the    spirit   restores 


P  A  K  A  D  I  S  K      K  E  S  T  O  li  E  D  .  63 

God  again  to  human  consciousness,  and  reveals  him 
every  where.  He  manifests  himself  to  the  redeemed 
heart.  He  has  written  it  in  the  New  Covenant,  and 
it  is  a  part  of  the  divine  compact  with  us,  "  I  will 
dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them,  and  I  will  be  their 
God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people."  The  baptism  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  fully  restored 
to  the  Christian  mind  that  original  fellowship  with 
God  in  which  man  was  created.  "  If  we  walk  in 
the  light  as  he  [Christ]  is  in  the  light,  we  have 
fellowship  one  with  another,  [God  with  us,  and  we 
with  him,]  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son, 
cleanscth  us  from  all  sin."  Behold,  then,  the  prime 
element  of  the  paradisiacal  state  completely  brought 
back  to  earth  by  Christ.  The  pure  in  heart  will 
not  search  long  nor  wander  far  to  find  an  every- 
where present  God. 

"No  sun  arose — I  saw  no  moon 

Go  paling  through  the  air  ; 
God's  glorious  presence,  like  a  sun, 

Was  here  —  was  every  where ; 
It  brooded  o'er  the  flowering  plains, 

On  all  the  hills  it  glowed ; 
If  here  I  looked,  or  there  I  looked, 

I  saw  the  face  of  God." 


64  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

Another  element  of  Paradise,  which  was  found 
restored  in  the  Happy  Islands,  was  the  union  of 
the  race  in  peace  and  love.  The  only  disjunctive 
agency  that  ever  separated  men  from  God  and  from 
each  other  was  here  removed.  The  disturbing 
influence  of  sin  being  taken  away,  souls  sponta- 
neously united  in  the  bonds  of  an  unbroken  fellow- 
ship. Every  one  loved  his  neighbor  as  himself. 
Each  lived  for  the  good  of  the  whole.  In  the  very 
act  of  giving  all  to  God,  selfishness,  the  root  of 
all  social  evils,  had  been  destroyed.  The  souls  of 
the  inhabitants  were  first  joined  to  the  Lord,  and 
became  one  spirit  with  him  ;  and  as  the  rays  of  a 
circle  all  meet  in  the  centre,  so  here  all  were  made 
one  in  Christ.  All  holy  beings  in  the  universe 
have  fellowship  and  communion  in  God.  The 
ancient  Persian  Magi  and  Chaldeans  supposed  there 
was  a  certain  "vital  sympathy"  between  the  su- 
perior and  lower  orders  of  being.  So  in  this  de- 
lightful region,  the  soul  enjoyed  a  closer  sympathy 
with  the  celestial  world  than  was  enjoyed  any 
where  else.  Their  hearts  beat  in  unison  with  the 
heavenly  state.  They  bowed  their  knees  before 
the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the 


PARADISE     RESTORKD.  65 

whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named.  (Eph. 
lii.  14,  15.)  One  common  principle  of  life  went 
forth  from  Christ  to  animate  the  whole.  Would 
you  see  Paradise  restored,  so  far  as  it  was  made 
up  of  a  union  of  soul  to  soul  around  Christ,  the 
centre,  look  at  the  fellowship  of  genuine  Christian 
hearts. 

"Blest  are  the  sons  of  peace. 

Whose  hearts  and  hopes  are  one ; 
Whose  kind  designs  to  serve  and  please 

Through  all  their  actions  run. 

Thus  on  the  heavenly  hills, 

The  saints  are  blest  above, 
Where  joy  like  morning  dew  distils, 

And  all  the  air  is  love." 

Christianity  has  created  a  stronger  love  for  man 
than  Paradise  would  have  ever  known.  Eden  never 
heard  the  prayer  of  a  dying  Christ,  amid  the  ago- 
nies of  his  atoning  death  struggle,  saying,  "  Father, 
forgive  ;  they  know  not  what  they  do."  This  was 
not  merely  the  ejaculation  of  the  dying  ^Messiah,  that 
was  to  cease  forever  in  the  world,  like  an  echo 
dying  away  among  the  hills.  It  was  an  emanation 
or  outgrowth  from  that  divine  life  he  came  to  de- 
posit in  humanity.  It  reappeared  in  Stephen,  pray- 
6  ■•' 


66  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

ing  for  his  murderers  ;  in  Paul,  declaring  that  he 
would  willingly  be  made  an  expiatory  victim,  if  by 
so  doing  he  could  save  his  countrymen ;  and  in 
Howard  journeying  from  country  to  country  to  re- 
lieve human  misery. 

One  thing  in  regard  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Happy  Islands  strikes  the  visitor  with  much  force. 
They  are  not  so  numerous  as  he  would  suppose 
they  would  be.  Compared  with  what  the  country 
would  sustain,  the  population  is  small.  This  seems 
almost  unaccountable.  Many  believe  in  their  ex- 
istence, and  seem  resolved  some  time  to  emigrate 
to  them.  But  comparatively  few  ever  find  them, 
because  the  time  for  commencing  the  voyage  is 
always  placed  in  the  future.  The  inhabitants  are 
intensely  desirous  that  all  should  come  and  share 
their  blessedness  ;  and  one  of  their  delightful  labors 
is  to  keep  watch  from  the  mountain  top  for  any 
one  who  may  be  struggling  with  the  waves  to  gain 
the  land,  in  order  that  they  may  hasten  to  his 
aid.  Though  the  population  was  not  numerous, 
yet  it  is  a  matter  of  joy  that  it  is  steadily  increas- 
ing, and  the  day  is  not  very  distant  when  it  will 
amount  to  many  millions. 


PAKADISE     RESTORED.  67 

This  restored  Paradise  was  what  my  soul  had 
long  inwardly  craved.  Here  the  needs  of  my  na- 
ture found  satisfaction  and  rest.  Yet  during  the 
first  weeks  of  my  stay,  a  fear  would  insinuate  itself 
into  the  heart,  lest  I  should  be  prevailed  upon  by 
some  influence  to  go  back  to  the  country  which 
had  been  left.  This  was  sometimes,  though  not 
often,  the  case.  Persons  occasionally  left  the  isl- 
ands, intending  to  return  after  a  brief  visit  to  their 
native  land,  but  were  never  seen  here  again.  Some- 
times I  was  fearful  lest  I  should  be  foolish  enough 
to  leave.  I  suggested  this  anxiety  to  a  venerable 
man,  who  wore  a  look  of  heavenly  benignity,  and 
who  had  resided  here  for  a  long  period.  His  name 
was  Bernard.  I  told  him  there  was  nothing  from 
which  my  soul  shrunk  with  greater  horror  than 
from  the  thought  of  losing  this  blissful  communion 
with  God  in  the  centre  of  my  soul,  which  Adam 
enjoyed  in  Paradise,  and  which  had  been  restored 
to  the  pure  in  heart,  who  dwelt  in  the  Happy 
Islands.  I  could  not  endure  the  idea  of  again 
being  put  back  upon  the  ordinary  Christian  posi- 
tion, where  the  soul,  instead  of  this  pure  spirit- 
uality, was  filled  with  earthy  and  sensuous  images, 


68  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     UK 

and  God  was  well  nigh  excluded.  The  venerable 
saint  informed  me,  that  when  any  temptation  arose 
from  any  source  to  leave  the  islands,  I  should,  at 
oncG,  Avhatever  might  bo  my  employment  at  the 
time,  leave  all,  and  walk  to  the  rock  where  I  had 
written  my  name,  and  mark  it  still  deeper  with 
the  point  of  the  diamond.  He  had  done  this  until 
his  name  was  engraved  so  deep  that  neither  the 
storms  of  heaven  nor  the  changes  of  time  could 
efface  it ;  and  for  many  years  he  had  felt  neither 
desire  nor  fear  that  he  should  return  to  his  native 
land.  The  misery  and  inexpressible  emptiness  of 
a  soul  that  starts  to  return  constitutes  a  force  to 
draw  the  soul  back. 

He  also  informed  me  that  after  one  had  visited 
all  the  islands,  and  resided  here  for  some  time, 
the  powerful  law  of  habit  would  have  time  to  exert 
its  influence ;  habits  of  holy  living  would  be  formed ; 
our  nature  would  become  thoroughly  changed ;  the 
depraved  bent  of  the  will  reversed,  and  the  will 
would  become  fixed  in  the  direction  of  God  and 
heaven  ;  the  soul  would  pass  into  a  state  of  com- 
parative, though  not  absolute  immutability.  The 
soul  then  becomes  like  a   a;entle   stream   that  flows 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  69 

on  day  and  night,  reflecting  the  heavens  above. 
The  great  object  of  a  probationary  state  is  the 
formation  of  fixed  habits  of  holiness.  When  the 
Avill  of  God,  expressing  itself  in  the  laws  of  our 
mental  nature,  shall  say,  "  Let  him  that  is  holy  be 
holy  still,"  we  have  attained  the  great  end  of  ex- 
istence here,  and  are  prepared  in  a  higher  sphere 
of  life  to  commence  the  race  of  endless  progression 
in  knowledge,  purity,  and  love. 


T  II  E     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 


CHAPTER    III. 
THE    SUPRE2tIE    GOOD    SOUGHT   AND   FOUND. 

Created  Beauty  does  not  satisfy.  —  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Jloire.  — 
Beauty  of  the  Lord.  —  The  Cravinxj  of  the  Soul  after  God.  — 
TJie  Inquiries  of  Philosophers  respecting  the  Summum  Boiium. 
—  The  Possession  of  God.  —  The  Yearning  of  the  Soul  after 
the  infinite  Good. — Job. — David.  —  Divine  Attraction. — 
Raymond  Lull.  —  Charles  Wesley.  —  The  Soul  made  for  the 
Enjoytnent  of  God. —  Where  shall  we  find  hi/n^ —  Tho)nas 
a  Kempis.  —  Madam  Guyon.  —  Fenelon.  —  Baxter.  —  God 
the  jjroper  Habitation  of  the  Soul.  —  Ruysbroch.  —  Inward 
Sense  of  God.  —  Testimony  of  Tauler.  —  The  Piety  of  the 
Middle  Age.  —  Contemplation  of  God.  —  Recollection.  — 
Fletcher.  —  Contemplation  analyzed. 

THE  HAPPY  region,  in  which  I  had  come  to  re- 
side, seemed  every  Avay  fitted  to  be  the  blissful 
abode  of  a  soul  made  in  the  image  of  God.  The 
beauty  of  the  outward  world  surpassed  any  thing  I 
had  ever  seen  in  any  part  of  the  world,  and  seemed 
truly  divine.  A  suscej)tibility  of  the  emotion  of  the 
beautiful,    when  the   soul   is   in  the    presence    of  the 


PARADISE     K  E  S  T  O  R  E  D  .  71 

skilful  creations  of  the  divine  hand,  is  one  of  the 
original  powers  of  our  nature,  and  the  beneficent 
Creator  has  made  the  most  ample  provision  for  its 
gratification.  There  is  no  part  of  the  world,  not 
even  a  burning  desert,  nor  the  region  around  the 
throne  of  everlasting  winter,  where  the  objects  of 
the  creative  Love  do  not  appear  radiant  with  the 
dimmed  rays  of  celsstial  beauty,  and  we  are  con- 
strained to  say,  "  G.xl  is  even  here  I  "  But  created 
earthly  beauty  does  not  fully  satisfy  the  soul.  It 
is  only  the  type  of  those  more  solid  realities  which 
eternity  shall  disclose,  and  which  adorn  the  heav- 
enly plains.  The  feeling  grows  with  that  upon 
which  it  feeds,  and  soon  transcends  the  finite,  the 
transient,  the  earthly,  and  demands  for  its  rest  the 
uncreated  and  the  infinite.  This  was  suggested 
to  mc  in  the  Ha])py  Islands,  as  I  was  passing  a 
retired  place,  where,  in  a  most  delightful  spot,  was 
a  bower,  within  which  I  heard  the  soft  voice  of 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Rov.e  conversing  with  God.  These 
words  I  distinctly  caught :  "  I  love  my  friends ; 
my  vital  breath  and  the  light  of  heaven  are  dear 
to  me  ;  but  should  I  say,  I  love  my  God  as  I  love 
these,  I  should  belie  the  sacred  flame  which  aspires 


72  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

to  infinity.  'Tis  thee,  abstractedly  thee,  O  un- 
created Beauty,  that  I  love ;  in  thee  my  wishes  all 
terminate ;  in  thee,  as  in  their  blissful  centre,  all 
my  desires  meet,  and  there  they  must  be  eternally 
fixed ;  it  is  thou  alone  must  constitute  my  ever- 
lasting happiness." 

No  tongue  can  describe  the  refined  pleasure  of 
the  soul,  which,  released  from  the  bondage  of  sense, 
rises  to  the  contemplation  of  the  infinite  beauty  of 
the  divine  character.  It  is  a  bliss  no  sensual  mind 
can  taste,  and  places  the  holy  soul  on  the  imper- 
fectly defined  boundary  line  between  earth  and 
heaven.  In  this  spiritual  position  earth  projects 
into  heaven,  like  a  promontory  into  the  ocean,  or 
a  mountain  summit  above  the  clouds  and  earthy 
vapors.  Such  a  one  will  ever  pray,  "  Let  the 
beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon  us."  (Ps. 
xc.  17.)  Also,  with  David,  the  soul  can  say, 
"  One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord,  that  will 
I  seek  after ;  that  I  may  dwell  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord  all  the  days  of  my  life,  to  behold  the  beauty 
of  the  Lord."  (Ps.  xxvii.  4.)  Isaiah  represents 
the  felicity  of  the  celestial  state  as  consisting  in 
part    of  the    gratification   of  this    refined   emotion. 


PARADISE     KESTOKED.  73 

"  Thine  eyes  shall  see    the    King    in    his    beauty."' 
(Isa.  xxxiii.  17.) 

In  the  Happy  Islands  the  soul  finds  itself  pos- 
sessed of  an  ineffable  longing  for  a  sweeter  con- 
sciousness of  God ;  a  clearer  inward  sense  of  the 
divine  presence.  Says  Richard  Watson  in  a  letter 
to  a  friend,  "  Rest  not  a  moment  without  the  felt 
presence  of  your  God."  From  the  time  I  started 
for  this  blissful  region,  I  was  consumed  with  a 
deathless  inward  craving  for  God.  Long  had  I 
inquired  of  the  philosophers  of  the  old  world  what 
constitutes  the  supreme  good,  the  summum  honum  — 
a  good  completely  satisfying  all  the  desires  of  the 
heart.  From  the  time  of  Socrates,  philosophy  had 
turned  its  inquiries  in  that  direction,  and  had  dil- 
igently searched  for  it,  in  order  that  the  human 
spirit  might  reach  a  position  of  perfect  mental  tran- 
quillity and  profound  satisfaction.  But  philosophy 
proved  a  false  light,  whose  guidance  only  served 
to  bewilder.  It  created  aspirations  which  it  could 
not  conduct  to  their  proper  object ;  it  excited  a 
thirst  it  had  no  power  to  allay.  According  to 
Varro,  as  quoted  by  St.  Augustine,  the  philoso- 
phers entertained  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
7 


74  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

different  opinions  upon  what  constitutes  the  su- 
preme good.  Some  placed  it  in  one  thing,  some 
in  another.  But  all  were  wrong,  for  they  looked 
for  it  among  finite  things,  and  stopped  short  of 
the  uncreated  and  infinite  One.  Leaving  philosophy, 
with  its  twilight  flashes  of  truth,  for  the  unerring 
guidance  of  revelation,  I  soon  learned  that  the 
conscious  possession  of  God,  the  infinite  and  eternal 
Good,  from  whom  all  other  good  proceeds,  was 
the  highest  hliss,  the  supreme  and  all-satisfying 
felicity  of  a  human  soul.  The  universe  itself, 
empty  of  him,  would  be  a  boundless  desolation,  a 
dreary  solitude.  All  things  Avithout  God  are  as 
nothing  to  the  soul ;  and  in  the  possession  of  him, 
with  nothing  else,  we  have  all.  How  often,  in  the 
midst  of  earthly  delights,  and  in  the  possession  of 
the  creatures  of  God,  we  feel  inwardly  desolate 
and  unhappy,  we  know  not  why !  Though  our 
condition  may  be  the  object  of  desire  or  envy  to 
others,  yet  something  is  lacking  to  fill  the  measure 
of  our  satisfaction,  and  give  repose  to  our  restless 
spirits.  Happy  the  man  who  knows  at  such  times 
what  his  nature  demands,  and  says,  "  I  will  arise 
and  go    to    my  Father."     The    soul  was    made    for 


PARADISE     JiESlORED.  75 

the  enjoyment  of  God,  and  must  return  to  him  for 
rest.  Blessed  is  the  man  whose  desires  soar  be- 
yond all  created  good,  that  rise  from  the  shadow 
to  grasp  the  substance. 

An  inward  longing  of  the  soul  after  God  has 
been  characteristic  of  the  experience  of  good  men 
in  all  ages.  The  human  spirit  sundered  from  its 
Source,  and  cut  off  from  the  enjoyment  of  its  su- 
preme good,  is  like  the  magnetic  needle  when 
forcibly  drawn  aside  from  its  true  polar  direction. 
It  restlessly  vibrates  back  and  forth  until  it  settles 
down  in  its  natural  position,  where  alone  it  can 
become  quiet.  Job  stands  forth  as  the  represen- 
tative of  our  common  humanity,  when  he  says, 
"  O  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  him !  Be- 
hold I  go  forward,  but  he  is  not  there ;  and  back- 
ward, but  I  cannot  perceive  him ;  on  the  left  hand, 
where  he  doth  work,  but  I  cannot  behold  him ;  he 
hideth  himself  on  the  right  hand,  that  I  cannot  see 
him."  (Job  xxiii.  3,  8,  9.)  David  often  expresses 
this  pious  breathing  of  the  soul  after  God.  "  As 
the  hart  pantsth  [or  brayeth,  referring  to  the  com- 
plaining moan  which  that  animal  makes]  after  the 
water    brooks,  so    panteth    my   soul    after    thee,    O 


76  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

God."  (Ps.  xlii.  1,  2.)  In  another  place  he  ex- 
claims, "O  God,  thou  art  my  God;  early  will  I 
seok  thee  :  my  soul  thirsteth  for  thee,  my  flesh 
longeth  for  thee,  in  a  dry  and  thirsty  land,  where 
no  water  is."  (Ps.  Ixiii.  1.)  As  the  traveller 
across  a  burning  desert,  who  has  been  days  with- 
out water,  pants  for  a  cooling  fountain,  so  the 
spirit  of  man  yearns  for  God.  When  God  is  ab- 
sent from  our  consciousness,  in  our  emptiness  and 
dissatisfaction,  we  ask,  with  the  spouse,  ''  Saw  ye 
him  whom  my  soul  loveth  ?  "  In  such  a  spiritual 
orphanage,  the  heart  from  its  inmost  centre  prays, 
"  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly." 

All  men  long  for  God,  or  at  least  for  that  which 
he  alone  can  supply  —  the  infinite  and  all-satisfying 
good.  St.  Paul,  who  had  a  profound  knowledge 
of  the  workings  of  the  human  spirit,  in  his  oration 
before  the  Areopagus  at  Athens,  represents  the 
heathen  mind,  Avhile  in  the  unenlightened  midnight 
of  nature,  as  feeling  after  God,  like  a  blind  man 
groping  along  the  wall.  (Acts  xvii.  27.)  In  this 
way  Plato  searched  for  the  hidden  God,  and  with 
some  success,  for  the  heart  of  God  is  touched  Avith 
the    sincere    longings    of  even    pagan    minds.      He 


-      P A KADISE     RESTORED.  77 

listens  to  the  secret  sighs  of  such  souls,  and  an- 
swers their  deep  yearnings  by  imperfect  manifesta- 
tions of  himself  to  their  consciousness.  Plato  in 
the  Timseus  says,  "  To  discover  the  Creator  and 
Father  of  this  universe,  as  well  as  his  work,  is 
indeed  difficult ;  and  when  discovered,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  reveal  him  to  mankind."  But  Christianity, 
in  the  person  of  Paul,  came  to  Athens  to  reveal 
the  Unknown  to  the  Grecian  philosophy.  Under 
her  light  the  Deity  is  no  longer  the  "  Great  Un- 
revealed"  of  Basilides,  nor  the  unexplored  Abyss 
of  the  Gnostic  Valentine,  nor  the  cold,  indifferent, 
iron-hearted  Animus  Mundi,  or  Soul  of  the  World, 
of  the  Stoics,  but  a  God  of  eternal  love,  who  is 
not  far  from  every  one  of  us,  and  who  delights  to 
manifest  himself  to  all  souls  who  long  for  his 
presence. 

In  the  Christian  heart  the  desire  for  God  is 
supreme,  and  absorbs  every  other  desire.  It  is  a 
powerfully  attractive  force,  drawing  the  soul  from 
the  noisy  world  to  the  silence  and  solitude  of  the 
closet,  and  onward  in  its  course  to  heaven.  The 
more  of  holiness  we  attain,  the  more  forcibly  this 
divine  gravitation  of  the  soul  towards  its  centre  is 
7  * 


/8  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

felt.  In  my  childhood  I  read  in  the  Arabian 
Nights  of  a  mountain  of  loadstone.  Ships  at  a 
great  distance  felt  its  influence  ;  but  at  first  their 
approach  to  it  was  scarcely  perceptible.  There  was 
only  a  very  slight  deviation  from  their  course, 
which  excited  but  little  apprehension.  But  the 
attraction  gradually  became  stronger,  until  by  its 
invisible  influence  the  vessel  was  impelled  onward 
with  increased  velocity.  At  last  it  drew  all  the 
naiis  and  iron-work  to  itself,  and  the  ship  fell  to 
pieces.  Thus  it  is  with  the  soul.  In  the  com- 
mencement of  its  moral  recovery,  when  it  first 
feels  the  love  of  Christ,  it  is  drawn  towards  him  it 
loves.  Absence  from  him  begins  to  be  viewed  as 
the  most  dreaded  calamity,  and  separation  from  him 
becomes  our  ideal  of  hell.  At  length,  united  to 
him  by  a  perfect  sympathy  of  character,  it  can  no 
longer  be  kept  from  him  it  loves.  It  files  to  his 
presence  and  eternal  embrace,  and  the  body  is 
dissolved.  The  tendency  of  the  holy  soul  towards 
God  in  its  desires  constitutes  unceasing  prayer. 
(1  Thess.  V.  17.)  This  sighing  of  the  spirit  after 
communion  and  union  with  the  Holy  One,  when 
yielded    to    and    properly   directed,    will    draw    the 


PAKAUISE     liESXOllJiD.  79 

soul  into  an  all-satisfying  fellowship  with  the  God 
of  love.  He  gives  it  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  order 
to  satisfy  it.  As  the  soul  approaches  him,  he  will 
not  retire  from  it,  but  will  fly  to  embrace  the 
returning  wanderer.  The  soul  that  hungers  and 
thirsts  after  righteousness  is  already  blessed,  and 
shall  be  filled. 

Raymond  Lull  (born  a7uio  1236,  in  the  Island  of 
Majorca)  speaks  in  harmony  with  the  feelings  of 
every  genuinely  Christian  heart,  when  he  declares, 
"  The  spirit  longs  after  nothing  as  it  does  after 
God.  No  gold  is  worth  so  much  as  a  sigh  of  holy 
longing.  The  more  of  this  longing  one  has,  the 
more  of  life  he  has.  The  want  of  this  longing  is 
death.  Have  this  lonsiins  and  thou  shalt  live. 
He  is  not  poor  who  possesses  this ;  unhappy  the 
man  who  lives  without  it."  That  ardent  craving 
of  the  soul  after  God  which  cannot  be  satisfied 
with  his  gifts,  but  demands  the  infinite  Giver,  is 
nowhere,  out  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  more  for- 
cibly expressed  than  in  the  hymns  of  Charles 
Wesley.  His  sacred  poetry  gushes  out  from  the 
hidden     depths     of     a     profound     Christian     expe- 


80  THE     II  APT  Y     ISLANDS,     OK 

"Me  with  that  restless  thirst  inspire, 
That  sacred,  infinite  desire. 

And  feast  my  hungry  heart ; 
Less  than  thyself  cannot  suffice  ; 
My  soul  for  all  thy  fulness  cries. 

For  all  thou  hast  and  art." 

"  Ever  fainting  with  desire, 
For  thee,  O  Christ,  I  call; 
Thee  I  restlessly  require  ; 
I  want  my  God,  my  all." 

"Give  me  thyself,  from  every  boast, 
From  every  wish  set  free ; 
Let  all  I  am  in  thee  be  lost. 
But  give  thyself  to  me. 

Thy  gifts,  alas  !  cannot  suffice, 

Unless  thyself  be  given  ; 
Thy  presence  makes  my  Paradise, 

And  where  thou  art  is  heaven." 

In  his  eagerness  to  rise  to  the  cnjoj'ment  of 
that  only  bliss  for  which  the  soul  was  made,  his 
soul  "  swells  to  compass  "  God,  and  pants  to  live 
and  move  in  its  native  divine  element. 

"  If  now  thine  influence  I  feel. 
If  now  in  thee  begin  to  live, 
Still  to  my  heart  thyself  reveal ; 
Give  me  thyself,  forever  give; 
A  point  my  good,  a  drop  my  store, 
Eager  I  ask,  I  pant  for  more. 


PARADISE     U  E  S  T  O  11  E  i:)  .  b  i 

Eager  for  thee  I  ask  and  pant, 

So  strong  the  principle  divine 
Carries  me  out  in  sweet  constraint 

Till  all  my  hallowed  soul  is  thine ; 
Plunged  in  the  Godhead's  deepest  sea, 

And  lost  in  his  immensity." 

In  the  Happy  Islands  this  intense  thirst  of  the 
spirit  for  God  would  not  suffer  us  to  rest  until  we 
had  found  the  infinite  Good,  and  had  so  appropri- 
ated him  that  we  could  say,  God  is  ours.  The 
language  of  the  heart  was,  "  Whom  have  we  in 
heaven  hut  thee  ?  and  there  is  none  upon  earth 
we  desire  beside  thee.  My  flesh  and  my  heart 
failcth,  but  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart  and 
my  portion  forever."  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  25,  26.)  The 
soul,  though  subject  to  finite  limitations,  was  made 
for  the  enjoyment  of  the  infinite,  and  can  be  con- 
tent with  nothing  less.  Its  unfolding  powers  must 
lay  hold  of  its  inheritance,  or  be  wretched.  As 
confined  flowers  instinctively  seek  the  sun,  and 
stretch  themselves  to  meet  his  embrace,  so  our 
souls  were  drawn  out  after  God.  Paradise  itself, 
with  all  its  outward  adornments,  could  not  fill  the 
abyss  of  the  heart.  It  did  not  satisfy  to  see  him 
in  the  beautiful  creations  of  hi.-i  hand,  to  recognize 


82  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

him  in  the  sun  rejoicing  as  a  giant  to  run  a  race, 
or  in  the  moon  walking  in  brightness,  or  in  the 
worlds  flaming  in  the  infinite  spaces  above  our 
heads,  or  in  the  dcwdrop  and  the  flower.  We  had 
sought  and  found  him  in  all  these.  We  had  seen 
him  marching  at  the  head  of  the  centuries  in  hu- 
man history,  controlling  and  directing  all  events 
and  revolutions  to  the  advancement  of  the  redemp- 
tive work ;  but  still  our  flesh  and  heart  cried  out 
for  the  living  God.  He  was  still  too  far  from  the 
soul.  This  distance  must  be  annihilated,  or  we 
cannot  attain  to  perfect  tranquillity.  We  must 
grasp  the  God  w^e  seek.  We  must  not  only  see 
him  every  where  without,  but  find  him  within. 
It  is  not  enough  to  realize  that  all  things  are  full 
of  God,  unless  he  fills  our  hearts.  With  a  sweet 
restlessness  I  w^andercd  about,  inquiring  of  every 
thing  I  saw,  "  Where  is  God,  my  Maker,  who 
giveth  songs  in  the  night  ?  "  It  was  natural  that  I 
should  ask  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands  where  I 
could  so  find  God  as  to  satisfy  the  inward  craving 
of  my  nature.  I  recollected  to  have  read  in  Plu- 
tarch, that  he  did  not  deem  it  unreasonable  that 
a  good  man   should   hold  converse   with   the  Deity. 


PARADISE     KESTORED.  83 

He  says,  in  the  Life  of  Xuma,  that  "  there  -were 
many  who  were  thought  to  have  attained  to  superior 
felicity,  and  to  be  beloved  in  an  extraordinary  man- 
ner by  the  Divinity.  And,  indeed,  it  is  reason- 
able enough  to  suppose  that  the  Deity  would  not 
place  his  affections  upon  horses  or  birds,  but  rather 
upon  human  beings  eminently  distinguished  for 
virtue  ;  and  that  he  neither  disdains  nor  dislikes  to 
hold  communion  with  a  man  of  wisdom  and  piety." 
Thus  speaks  this  eminent  pagan  philosopher.  And 
surely  it  would  be  most  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  the  redeemed  soul,  the  noblest  work  of  God, 
should  be  cut  off  from  all  intercourse  with  him  ;  that 
he  should  sustain  by  his  presence  every  material 
thing,  and  yet  would  not  be  consciously  present 
in  the  human  spirit.  But  who  could  tell  me  where 
to  find  God.  Plutarch  could  not,  for  it  transcended 
the  power  of  mere  philosophy.  I  sought  that  de- 
vout and  unworldly  man,  Thomas  a  Kempis,  and 
asked  him,  '•  Where  is  God,  my  Maker,  who  giveth 
songs  in  the  night?"  His  words  were  like  a  ray 
of  light  in  a  dungeon,  and  fell  upon  my  soul  with 
the  force  of  a  new  revelation,  as  he  replied,  "  My 
son,  if  thou  withdrawest  thy  attention  from  outward 


84  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

things,  and  keepest  it  fixed  upon  what  passeth 
within,  thou  wilt  soon  perceive  the  coming  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  for  the  kingdom  of  God  is  that 
peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  cannot  bo 
received  by  sensual  and  worldly  men.  All  the  glory 
and  beauty  of  Christ  are  manifested  within,  and 
there  he  delights  to  dwell ;  his  visits  there  are  fre- 
quent, his  condescension  amazing,  his  conversation 
sweet,  and  the  peace  that  he  brings  passeth  all 
understanding."  {Imitation  of  Christ,  p.  137.) 
Thus  my  search  for  God  was  turned  in  the  proper 
direction.  We  are  not  to  look  outward,  but  into 
the  depths  of  our  interior  being.  We  cannot  fully 
find  him  in  the  sensible  world.  It  is  not  by  wan- 
dering outward  through  space  that  we  find  him 
fully,  but  by  leaving  the  realm  of  sense,  and  by  an 
introversion  of  mind,  we  must  retire  into  the  hidden 
recess  of  the  spirit. 

Madam  Guyon,  in  her  autobiography,  informs 
us  how  she  was  first  led  to  that  profound  inward 
experience  of  God  which  she  attained.  She  tells 
us  that  she  restlessly  w^andered  about  in  search  of 
Him  who  was  infinitely  near  to  her,  until  one  day 
a  pious  Franciscan  was  providentially  brought  into 


r  A  li.  A  D  I  S  B     K  K  S  1  O  ii  E  D.  85 

her  society,  to  whom  she  related  her  strivings  after 
God  and  her  want  of  success.  He  replied,  "  It  is, 
madam,  because  you  seek  without  what  you  have 
within.  Accustom  yourself  to  seek  God  in  your 
heart,  and  you  will  find  him."  These  words  made 
an  indelible  impression  upon  her  heart.  They 
seemed  to  come  as  from  the  lips  of  God.  In  ref- 
erence to  her  past  want  of  success  in  attaining  a 
satisfying  communion  with  an  inwardly  present 
Deity,  she  exclaims,  "  Alas  I  I  sought  thee  where 
thou  wast  not.  It  was  for  want  of  understanding 
these  words  of  thy  gospel,  '  The  kingdom  of  God 
Cometh  not  with  observation,  neither  shall  they 
say,  Lo  here,  or,  Lo  there  ;  for  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  within  you.'  " 

Fenelon,  whose  seraphic  love  introduced  him 
into  the  familiar  society  of  the  Deity,  and  who, 
like  Enoch,  walked  with  God,  informs  us  how  he 
sought  for  him  in  his  works,  but  could  not  find 
him  except  in  the  interior  of  his  heart.  He  says 
to  the  Deity,  "Thou  art  (and  I  am  enraptured 
with  the  thought)  continually  at  work  in  the  very 
centre  of  my  being  ;  invisibly  thou  workest  there, 
as  a  laborer   digging   mines  in   the    bowels   of  the 


86  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

earth  ;  thou  dost  all,  and  the  world  perceives  thee 
not ;  it  attributes  nothing  to  thee.  I  myself  was 
once  wandering  astray  in  vain  attempts  to  find 
thee,  at  a  great  distance  from  me  ;  I  was  drawing 
together  all  the  wonders  of  nature,  that  I  might 
then  form  to  myself  some  image  of  thy  greatness ; 
I  was  going  to  inquire  after  thee  of  thy  creatures ; 
and  I  never  thought  of  finding  thee  in  the  centre 
of  my  heart,  where  thou  never  ceascst  to  dwell. 
No,  my  God,  we  need  not  dig  into  the  heart  of 
the  earth,  nor  pass  beyond  the  seas  ;  we  need  not, 
as  thy  holy  oracles  tell  us,  fly  up  into  the  heavens 
to  find  thee.  Thou  art  nearer  to  us  than  we  are 
to  ourselves."  {Pious  Thoughts,  pp.  40,  41.)  In 
another  place,  he  remarks,  "  To  bid  men  seek  thee 
in  their  own  hearts,  is  to  projaose  to  them  to  seek 
thee  at  a  much  greater  distance  than  the  most  un- 
known parts  of  the  earth.  What  is  there  more 
unknown  and  more  remote  to  the  greatest  part  of 
men,  vain  and  thoughtless,  than  the  bottom  of  their 
own  hearts  ?  Do  they  know  what  it  is  ever  to 
enter  into  themselves  ?  Have  they  ever  tried  to 
find  the  way  ?  Can  they  so  much  as  imagine  what 
that  interior  sanctuary  is,   that  impenetrable  centre 


PARADISE     BESTOEED.  87 

of  the  soul,  where  thou  desirest  to  be  adored  in 
spirit  and  in  truth  ?  They  are  continually  out  of 
themselves  among  the  objects  of  their  ambition  or 
amusement.  "'  ••'  *  As  for  me,  O  my  Creator,  with 
my  eyes  shut  to  all  external  objects,  which  are  but 
vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit,  I  will  find,  in  the 
most  secret  recess  of  my  heart,  an  intimate  famil- 
iarity with  thee,  by  Jesus  Christ  thy  Son."  {Pious 
Tlioughts,  pp.  43,  45.)  If  we  will  find  God,  we 
must  learn  to  withdraw  our  minds  from  every  thing 
which  is  not  God ;  we  must  in  abstraction  from 
external  things  retire  into  the  recesses  of  our  spir- 
itual being.  Men  are  not  accustomed  to  this. 
They  know  as  little  of  their  inward  state  as  most 
travellers  do  of  the  interior  chambers  of  the  pyra- 
mid of  Cheops,  on  the  banks  of  the  Xile,  in  whose 
inner  solitude  dwells  the  unilluminated  darkness 
of  centuries,  and  dust,  which  the  passing  ages  have 
never  stirred.  He  who  knows  God,  not  merely  as 
the  God  of  nature,  ordering  all  the  movements  of 
the  material  universe,  and  who  is  the  secret  spring 
and  cause  of  all  its  phenomena,  nor  as  the  God  of 
history  and  providence,  nor  merely  as  an  infinitely 
perfect  Being,  intellectually  apprehended,  but  as  a 


88  THE     HAPPY     1  S  I.  A  JS'  D  S  ,     OK 

God  dwelling  in  us  as  in  the  penetralia  of  a  temple 
has  found  the  heginnings  of  eternal  life.  This  is 
the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  of  Christ.  "  If  any 
man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my  commandments  ; 
and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come 
unto  him  and  make  our  abode  with  him."  The 
indwelling  of  God  in  the  soul  is  the  great  mystery 
of  the  gospel. 

Mr.  Baxter  seems  to  have  had  a  clear  conception 
of  the  privilege  of  the  purified  soul  in  enjoying  the 
inward  jiresence  of  God.  According  to  him  the 
more  holy  a  person  becomes,  the  nearer  and  sweeter 
is  his  fellowship  with  God.  His  language  is,  "  When 
man's  heart  had  nothing  in  it  to  grieve  the  Spirit 
it  was  the  delightful  habitation  of  his  Maker.  God 
did  not  quit  his  residence  there  till  man  expelled 
him  by  unworthy  provocations.  There  was  no  shy- 
ness or  reserve  till  the  heart  grew  sinful,  and  too 
loathsome  a  dungeon  for  God  to  delight  in.  And 
Avas  this  soul  reduced  to  its  former  innocency,  God 
would  quickly  return  to  his  former  habitation ;  yea, 
so  far  as  it  is  renewed  and  repaired  by  the  Spirit, 
and  purged  from  its  lusts  and  beautified  by  his 
image,    the    Lord    will    yet    acknowledge    it    as    his 


PAKADISE     KESIOKJED.  89 

own,  Christ  will  manifest  himself  unto  it,  and  the 
Spirit  will  take  it  for  his  temple  and  residence. 
So  far  as  the  heart  is  qualified  for  conversing  with 
God,  so  far  it  usually  enjoys  him."  {Baxter's 
Saints'  Everlasting  Rest,  p.  258.)  The  proper  res- 
idence of  the  soul  is  in  God,  and  the  proper  abode 
of  God  is  in  the  soul.  Every  living  thing  has  its 
native  element  and  place  of  abode,  adapted  to  its 
nature  and  powers.  Some  occupy  the  ocean,  in 
whose  ddrk  caverns  they  revel  in  bliss  ;  some  find 
a  happy  abode  amid  the  frozen  snows  of  the  north ; 
others  on  the  burning  sands  of  the  equatorial  re- 
gions. But  every  thing  God  has  made  has  its 
appropriate  habitat,  out  of  which  locality  it  cannot 
be  fully  blest.  The  habitation  of  a  human  soul  is 
an  all-pervading  Deity,  "  whose  presence  bright  all 
space  doth  occupy."  As  says  the  Psalmist,  "  O 
Lord,  thou  hast  been  our  dwelling  place  in  all  gen- 
erations." Holy  love  is  the  unitive  principle  which 
restores  the  soul  to  its  native  home.  "  He  that 
dwelleth  in  love  dwclleth  in  God,  and  God  in  him." 
(1   John  iv.   16.) 

It  was  the    remark   of   that    illustrious  Christian 
philosopher,  Dr.    Neander,  of  Berlin,  that   one  pe- 


90  THE     HAPPY     IS1,ANDS,     OB 

culiar  characteristic  for  which  the  German  race 
has  ever  been  distinguished  is  their  profound  sense 
of  the  religious  element  seated  in  the  inmost 
depths  of  the  human  soul,  their  readiness  to  be 
impelled  by  the  discordant  strifes  of  the  external 
world,  and  unfruitful  human  ordinances,  to  seek 
and  find  God  in  the  deep  recesses  of  their  own 
hearts,  and  to  experience  a  hidden  life  in  God, 
springing  forth  in  opposition  to  barren  conceptions 
of  the  abstract  intellect  that  leave  the  heart  cold 
and  dead,  a  mechanism  that  converts  religion  into 
a  mere  round  of  outward  ceremonies."  {History 
of  the  Christian  Religion  and  the  Church,  vol.  v. 
p.  381.) 

I  therefore  sought  unto  some  of  the  most  pious 
and  unworldly  men  of  the  German  race  to  learn 
how  to  find  the  supreme  good.  I  met  with  Ruys- 
broch,  whose  Christian  activity  was  witnessed  in 
the  fourteenth  century.  He  loved  to  wander  in 
the  forests  of  Griinthal,  musing  upon  divine  things, 
and  elevating  his  soul  to  God  in  holy  contempla- 
tion. There  is  something  in  such  a  place  that 
inspires  the  soul  with  a  spirit  of  worship.  In  this 
august  temple    not  made  with  human  hands,  when 


PARADISE     KESTORED.  91 

a  deep,  solemn  murmur  is  heard  in  the  forest, 
when  the  storm  is  abroad  and  the  tempest  is 
high,  and 

*'  The  loud  wind  through  the  forest  wakes, 
With  sound  Hke  ocean's  roaring,  wild  and  deep. 
And  in  yon  gloomy  pines  strange  music  makes," 

to  the  holj'  soul  it  is  Nature's  Te  Demn  laudamus, 
inviting  us  to  join  her  loud  acclaim.  Burns,  in 
whose  nature  the  religious  element  was  prominent, 
says  of  such  a  scene,  "  This  is  my  best  season  for 
devotion ;  my  mind  is  filled  with  a  kind  of  en- 
thusiasm to  Him  who  walketh  on  the  wings  of  the 
wind."  Thus  Kuysbroch,  abstracted  from  all  crea- 
turely  objects,  and  in  communion  with  God,  loved 
to  adore  him  in  the  deep  forest.  Shall  we  in- 
quire of  him  how  we  can  banish  the  world  from 
our  hearts,  and  reach  a  conscious  fellowship  with 
the  Deity  ?  He  tells  us  in  one  of  his  works, 
{Speculum  Mternm  Sahitis,)  "If  thou  rightly  un- 
derstandest  the  nature  of  love,  thou  wilt  govern 
thyself,  and  be  able  easily  to  overcome  the  world, 
and  wilt  die  daily  to  sin,  and  lead  a  life  of  striv- 
ing after  virtue.  Only  I  require  that  your  soul 
should    free    itself   entirely    from    all    outward  and 


92  I  H  E     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

creaturely  objects,  and  cling  to  them  in  no  way; 
that  it  should  freely  enter  into  its  own  deepest 
recesses,  so  as  to  rise  upward  from  this  centre  to 
God,  in  a  total  estrangement  of  this  inmost  centre 
from  the  world.  From  this  centre  of  its  being 
the  soul  should  sink  and  lose  itself  in  God.  Strive 
after  this  alone,  that  thou  become  free  from  form 
and  image  —  become  master  of  thyself;  so  thou  wilt 
be  able,  as  often  as  thou  choosest,  to  turn  thy 
heart  and  eye  vipward,  where  thy  treasure  and  thy 
heart  are,  and  thou  wilt  preserve  one  life  with 
him.  Nor  wilt  thou  suffer  the  grace  of  God  to 
be  idle,  but  from  true  love  Avilt  exercise  thyself 
heavenward,  in  praising  God  ;  below,  in  all  forms  of 
virtue  and  good  action.  And  in  whatever  outward 
action  thou  art  employed,  let  thy  heart  be  free 
and  disengaged  from  all,  so  that,  as  oft  as  thou 
choosest,  thou  mayst  be  able,  through  all  and 
above  all,  to  contemplate  Him  whom  thou  lovest." 
It  is  the  privilege  of  the  redeemed  soul  to  have 
a  sense  of  the  divine  presence,  an  inward  con- 
sciousness of  the  indwelling  Spirit.  The  pure  in 
heart  see  God.  The  way  the  soul  does  this  is 
perhaps   beyond   expression  —  it   is   ineffable.     Men. 


rvRADISE     RESTORED.  93 

not  remarkable  for  the  depth  or  spirituality  of  their 
religious  experience  have  admitted  that  the  soul 
may  reach  an  inward  sense  of  God.  David  Hart- 
ley, notwithstanding  his  materialistic  bent  of  mind, 
recognized  the  power  of  the  soul  to  do  this,  and 
denominates  it  theojmthy,  and  declares  that  it  is  a 
right  and  beneficial  mental  condition.  It  is  infi- 
nitely removed  from  all  fanaticism.  God  is  every 
w'here  in  space ;  and  must  his  existence  be  to  us 
a  mere  abstract  conception  of  the  intellect,  a  mere 
opinion  ?  He  is  the  great  central  Life,  pervading 
all  things.  There  is  nothing  in  the  universe  whose 
existence  is  so  real.  May  we  not  have  his  felt 
presence  ?  There  is  nothing  so  near  to  us  as  God. 
May  we  not  feel  him  near  ?  May  we  not  attain 
to  an  actual  experience  of  the  divine  ?  ^lay  not 
the  purified  soul,  by  virtue  of  its  relationship  to  the 
infinite  Spirit,  lose  itself  in  his  ineffable  light,  and 
be  as  certain  that  he  dwells  within  us  as  we  are 
that  the  sun  shines  without  us  ?  To  this  question 
let  Tauler  reply  out  of  the  depth  of  his  own  ex- 
perience. He  says  in  his  sermon  on  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  "  I  have  a  power  in  my  soul  which  enables 
me  to    perceive  God ;    I    am    as    certain    as    that  I 


94  I II  E    II  A  r  r  Y    islands,    or 

live,  that  nothing  is  so  near  to  mo  as  God.  He 
is  nearer  to  me  than  I  am  to  myself.  It  is  a  part 
of  his  very  essence  that  he  should  be  nigh  and 
present  to  me.  He  is  also  nigh  and  present  to  a 
stone  or  a  tree,  yet  they  do  not  know  it.  If  a  tree 
could  know  God,  and  perceive  his  presence  as  the 
highest  of  the  angels  perceives  it,  the  tree  would 
be  as  blessed  as  the  highest  angel.  And  it  is  be- 
cause man  is  capable  of  perceiving  God,  and  know- 
ing how  nigh  God  is  to  him,  that  he  is  better  off 
than  a  tree.  And  he  is  more  blessed  or  less 
blessed  in  the  same  measure  as  he  is  aware  of  the 
presence  of  God.  It  is  not  because  God  is  in  him, 
and  so  close  to  him,  and  he  hath  God,  that  he  is 
blessed,  but  because  he  perceives  God's  presence, 
and  knows  and  loves  him ;  and  such  a  one  will 
feel  that  God's  kingdom  is  nigh  at  hand." 

It  has  appeared  to  me,  while  studying  the  his- 
tory of  the  church,  that  the  piety  ot*  the  eminent 
Christian  teachers  of  the  mediaeval  period  was  of 
a  deeper  type  than  is  often  witnessed  in  a  subse- 
quent age.  Such  persons  as  Bernard  of  Clairvaux, 
Ansclm,  Hichard  of  St.  Victor,  Raymond  Lull,  and 
others,    are    truly    lights    shining    in    a    dark    place. 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  95 

The  attempt  to  follow  Christ  in  evangelical  poverty, 
which  was  one  of  the  most  influential  ideas  of  the 
times,  led  them  farther  in  self-abandonment  than 
many  at  present  are  willing  to  go.  They  also  lived 
in  a  stormy  period ;  and  to  find  rest,  the  soul  re- 
tired inward  upon  itself  from  the  noise  of  the 
outward  world.  Notwithstanding  the  tendency  to 
externalize  religion,  many  a  soul  found  Christ 
within,  and  humbly  lived  and  walked  with  God. 
In  spite  of  the  general  corruption  of  the  monastic 
orders,  the  monastery  was  sometimes  a  peaceful 
and  fertile  island  in  a  tempestuous  sea,  where  the 
soul  communed  with  heaven.  No  one  ever  loved 
Christ  with  a  more  glowing  love  than  Raymond 
Lull.  He  relates  how  he  sought  for  Christ  in  the 
outward  rites  of  the  dominant  state  religions  of  his 
age,  and  how  he  wandered  into  other  lands  in 
search  of  Him  who  only  manifests  himself  within. 
He  says,  "  Often  have  I  sought  thee  on  the  cross, 
and  ray  bodily  eyes  have  not  been  able  to  find 
thee,  although  they  have  found  thine  image  there, 
and  a  representation  of  thy  death.  And  when  I 
could  not  find  thee  with  my  bodily  eyes,  I  have 
sought  thee  with  the  eye  of  my  soul ;  and  thinking 


96 


THE     nAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 


on  thee,  my  soul  found  thee  ;  and  when  it  found 
thee,  my  heart  began  immediately  to  warm  with 
the  glow  of  love,  my  eyes  to  weep,  and  my  mouth 
to  praise  thee."  {Neander'' s  History  of  Christian- 
ity and  the  Church,  vol.  iv.  p.  307.)  It  is  not  by 
roaming  through  distant  lands  that  the  longing 
soul  finds  Christ.  The  true  pilgrimage  is  to  travel 
by  purity  of  heart  into  the  centre  of  our  being. 
There  he  manifests  himself  as  he  does  not  to  the 
world. 

The  highest  aim  of  the  Christian  teachers  of  the 
middle  age,  who  were  eminently  versed  in  the 
principles  of  the  interior  life,  and  according  to  them 
the  highest  stage  of  Christian  experience,  was  the 
contemplation  of  God.  Plato  had  taught  that 
there  were  realities  lying  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
senses,  and  had  instructed  the  world  to  rise  from 
the  sensible,  the  mutable,  the  earthy,  to  the  con- 
templation of  the  immutable  and  eternal.  The  state 
of  contemplation  was  with  many  an  ideal  state, 
after  which  they  longed  without  realizing  it.  Oth- 
ers professed  to  reach  this  exalted  Christian  position. 
This  state  of  contemplation  appears  to  me  identical 
with    what    some    persons,    eminent  for  piety,   and 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  97 

■\vho  have  attained  the  highest  results  of  Christian 
experience,  have  denominated  recollection.  Mr. 
Fletcher,  of  Madely,  says,  "  Recollection  is  a  dwell- 
ing within  ourselves ;  being  abstracted  from  the 
creature,  and  turned  towards  God.  It  is  both  in- 
ward and  outward.  Outward  recollection  consists 
in  silence  from  all  idle  and  superfluous  Avords,  and 
a  wise  disentanglement  from  the  world,  keeping  to 
our  own  business,  observing  and  following  the 
order  of  God  for  ourselves,  and  shutting  the  ear 
against  all  curious  and  unprofitable  matters.  In- 
ward recollection  consists  in  shutting  the  door  of 
the  senses ;  in  a  deep  attention  to  the  presence  of 
God ;  and  in  a  continual  care  of  entertaining  holy 
thoughts  for  fear  of  spiritual  idleness.  Let  it  be 
calm  and  peaceable  ;  and  let  it  be  lasting."  {Ben- 
son s  Life-  of  Fletcher,  p.  87.)  In  another  place, 
Mr.  Fletcher  says,  "  Let  us  shut  our  eyes  to  the 
gilded  clouds  without  us;  let  us  draw  inward,  and 
search  after  God,  if  haply  we  may  find  him."'  {Life 
of  Fletcher,  p.  335.)  This  seems  to  be  essentially 
the  same  as  what  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  (born  anno 
1091)  describes  as  the  third  and  last  stage  of 
Christian  experience,  "  where  the  spirit  collects  its 
9 


98  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

energies  within  itself,  and,  so  far  as  it  is  divinely 
sustained,  divests  itself  of  things  human  to  rise  to 
the  contemplation  of  God.  At  this  last  stage  the 
man  attains  to  that  which  is  the  aim  of  all  aims  — 
the  experience  of  the  divine.  That  which  is  high- 
est cannot  be  taught  by  words,  but  only  revealed 
through  the  Spirit.  No  language  can  explain  it ; 
but  we  may  by  prayer  and  purity  of  heart  attain 
to  it  after  we  have  prepared  ourselves  for  it  by  a 
worthy  life."  {History  of  Christianity  and  the 
Church,  vol.  iv.  p.  372.)  If  we  analyze  this  state 
of  contemplation,  as  it  was  apprehended  by  these 
distinguished  Christian  teachers,  we  shall  find  that 
it  was  a  state  of  inward  purity.  Sin,  which  alone 
can  separate  the  soul  from  God,  was  removed. 
Self  was  renounced  and  crucified.  The  world,  with 
all  creaturely  objects,  was  abandoned  as  a  source 
of  rest  to  the  soul.  God  was  loved  supremely, 
above  all  his  gifts,  and  for  his  own  sake,  as  the 
most  perfect  Being.  It  was  a  state  of  abstraction, 
a  withdrawal  of  the  soul  into  itself  from  the  world 
of  sense.  The  soul  is  introverted,  collected  in  it- 
self. The  thoughts,  aff'ections,  and  desires,  instead 
of  being    divergent    in    every  direction,    are    drawn 


PARADISE     RESTORED,  99 

in  from  the  circumference,  "  and  consolidated  around 
some  centre,  and  that  centre  is  God."  {Upharns 
Life  of  Faith,  p.  427.)  This  abstraction  from  the 
objects  of  sense,  which  the  devout  Kempis  calls 
peaceful  vacancy,  makes  the  heart  a  solitude  where 
God  dwells  alone.  The  mind  is  occupied  intently 
with  the  idea  of  God,  which  fills  the  whole  soul,  to 
the  exclusion  of  every  thing  else.  Every  thought, 
every  desire,  every  affection  is  centred  upon  him. 
God,  in  an  ineffable  manner,  is  directly  present  to 
the  spirit.  The  soul,  by  a  kind  of  divine  enchant- 
ment, is  fixed  upon  him,  and  loses  itself  in  the 
abyss  of  the  divine  Life.  It  is  to  be  remarked 
also,  that  this  state  of  contemplation  is  the  point 
where  faith  begins  to  be  lost  in  sight,  or  more 
correctly  where  faith  becomes  intuition,  which  is 
its  most  exalted  form.  Faith  is  the  substance,  or 
confident  expectation,  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evi- 
dence, the  convincing  proof  or  demonstration,  of 
things  not  seen.  As  Mr.  Wesley  defines  it,  "  It  is 
a  divine  evidence  and  conviction  of  God,  and  of  the 
things  of  God."  Its  office  in  the  mental  economy  is 
to  give  us  a  knowledge  of  those  things  that  lie  be- 
yond the  circle  of  sensation.     In  its  highest  form  it 


100  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

becomes  an  intuition  of  those  realities  that  exist 
behind  the  veil  of  sense.  This  is  the  only  form 
of  faith  which  belongs  to  the  celestial  state.  But 
the  contemplative  spirit,  on  the  wings  of  inward 
purity,  even  in  this  earthly  stadium  of  our  redemp- 
tion, may  soar  upward,  leaving  the  material  and 
sensuous  behind,  and  antedate  the  intuitions  of  the 
life  eternal. 

The  enjoyment  of  God  in  the  profoundest  depth 
of  our  being  is  characteristic  of  the  experience  of 
eminent  saints  in  all  ages.  Enoch  walked  with 
God.  Jehovah  commands  his  servant  Abraham, 
"  Walk  before  me,  and  be  thou  perfect."  David 
says,  "  I  have  set  the  Lord  always  before  me." 
In  the  Happy  Islands  it  was  an  habitual  and  per- 
manent state.  Never  did  the  Spaniard,  on  aniving 
in  the  western  world,  search  more  earnestly  for  gold, 
than  we  did  for  God  ;  and  here  faith  grasps  the  God 
we  seek.  In  the  sacred  solitude  of  the  heart  he 
manifests  himself  as  he  does  not  to  an  unbelieving 
Avorld,  who  know  him  not.  Each  of  the  inhabitants 
can  say  with  rapture  with  the  spouse,  "  My  beloved 
is  mine,  and  I  am  his  ;  "  and  with  David,  "  O  God, 
thou    art    my  God."      The    soul    appropriates   the 


PAKADISE     llESTOKED.  101 

Divinity  with  all  his  iniinite  attributes.  Blessed 
is  that  man  who  can  say,  "  O  God,  thou  art  my 
God."  There  is  in  those  words  all  that  can  be 
conceived  of  immortal  blessedness.  The  loftiest 
seraph  finds  all  his  bliss  in  uttering  them.  They 
measure  the  full  extent  of  angelic  bliss.  He  who 
can  truly  repeat  them  has  found  the  supreme  good, 
for  which  philosophy  sought  in  vain.  It  makes  of 
every  spot  a  hallowed  place.  Every  hour  of  con- 
scious existence  is  holy  time.  Every  day  is  ex- 
alted to  the  dignity  of  a  Sabbath,  while  the  Sabbath 
is  not  lowered  to  mere  secular  time,  but  elevated 
to  its  true  divine  significance.  It  makes  a  prison 
a  palace,  and   the  wide  world  a  Paradise. 

"Should  Fate  command  me  to  the  farthest  verge 
Of  the  green  earth,  to  distant,  barbarous  climes, 
Rivers  unknown  to  song;  where  first  the  sun 
Gilds  Indian  mountains,  or  his  setting  beam 
Flames  on  the  Atlantic  isles ;  'tis  nought  to  me, 
Since  God  is  ever  present,  e\eT  felt. 
In  the  void  waste  as  in  the  city  full ; 
And  where  he  vital  breathes  there  must  be  joy." 
9« 


102  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OB 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  ISLAND  ANAPAUSIS,  OR  TPIE  LAND  OF  REST. 

The  Place  described.  —  The  Saints'  Rest.  —  Baxter.  —  The 
golden  Fountain.  —  Loss  of  the  selfish  Will.  —  Prayer  re- 
solved into  its  Essence.  —  Inordinate  Desire.  —  Rule  of 
Kempis.  —  Silent  Prayer,  —  True  Riches.  —  Cotnplete  Satis- 
faction of  all  the  Needs  of  our  Nature.  —  Desire  of  Wealth, 
of  Honor,  of  Knmcledge.  —  The  Affections  reposing  on  the 
infinite  Good.  —  A  Symbol  of  the  Soul's  Rest  in  God.  — 
Extract  from  an  old  Author. 

"Now  rest  my  long-divided  heart, 
Fixed  on  this  bHssful  centre,  rest; 
Nor  ever  from  thy  Lord  depart; 
With  him,  of  every  good  possessed." 

AFTER  FINDING  the  Supreme  Good,  a  few 
days  were  spent  in  the  island  called  Ana- 
pausis.  So  quiet  a  place  I  had  never  found. 
Beneath  the  loftj"^  trees  of  the  forest,  venerable  with 
the  age  of  centuries,  the  hand  of  God  had  spread 
mossy  couches   designed   for  repose.     The  sea  was 


PAKADISK     RESIOKED.  103 

calm  and  tranquil.  The  noise  of  its  waves  was 
hushed  to  stillness.  Xo  fierce  winds  ever  swept 
over  the  peaceful  spot.  The  air  was  clear  and 
balm\-,  neither  chilly  nor  uncomfortably  hot.  The 
deep,  clear  blue  of  the  firmament  was  like  eternity 
made  visible.  The  very  sunbeams,  whose  mellow 
light  flooded  the  scene,  seemed  to  sleeji  on  the 
hill-sides.  A  beautiful  stream  glided  noiselessly 
along.  On  its  flowery  banks,  beneath  the  spread- 
ing branches  of  a  lofty  tree,  a  shepherd  had 
brought  his  flock  to  rest  at  noon.  The  whole 
scene  that  spread  out  before  me  was  like  a  heav- 
enly vision.  The  outward  world,  glowing  with 
quiet  beauty,  in  its  deep  silence  invited  the  soul 
to  repose. 

It  was  here  that  the  soul  found  what  has  been 
thought  generally  to  belong  only  to  the  heavenly 
sphere  —  the  saints'  rest,  the  rest  that  remains  for 
the  people  of  Gcd.  This  rest  is  attained  when 
the  struggle  of  the  human  with  the  divine  will 
ceases,  and  both  become  one.  St.  Paul  defines  it  to 
be  a  ceasing  from  our  own  works  as  God  did  from 
his.  It  is  attained  by  faith,  "for  we  that  have 
believed  do   enter   into    rest."     (Heb.  iv.   3.)     Mr. 


104  THE     H  A  r  F  Y     ISLANDS,     OK 

Baxter  seems  to  have  entertained  correct  concep- 
tions of  what  constitutes  this  rest.  The  saints' 
rest,  according  to  him,  is  a  soul  in  the  enjoyment 
of  God,  and  Avhoever  has  attained  to  the  posses- 
sion of  the  soul's  true  inheritance  in  this  life  has 
found  it.  He  defines  the  saints'  rest  to  be  "  tne 
most  perfect  state  of  a  Christian,  or  it  is  the  per- 
fect endless  enjoyment  of  God  by  the  perfected 
saints,  according  to  the  measure  of  their  capacity." 
{Saints'  Everlasiing  Rest,  p.  25.)  Just  before 
this,  he  exhorts  the  reader  "  to  take  God  in  Christ 
for  his  only  rest,  and  to  fix  his  heart  upon 
him  above  all."  And  he  prays  that  our  carnal 
minds  may  be  made  so  spiritual,  and  our  earthly 
hearts  so  heavenly,  that  loving  him,  and  delighting 
in  him,  may  be  the  work  of  our  lives.  Those 
that  enjoy  this  rest,  he  remarks,  "  have  chosen 
God  for  their  only  end  and  happiness.  He  that 
takes  any  thing  else  for  his  happiness  is  out  of 
the  way  the  first  step."  It  is  not  the  rest  of  inac- 
tion, the  rest  of  a  stone  which  ceases  from  all  motion 
when  it  has  attained  its  centre;  "but  it  contains 
a  sweet  and  constant  action  of  all  the  powers  of 
the    scul    in    the    enjoyment    of    God."     It    is   not 


PARADISE     BESTOKED.  105 

labored  action,  for  the  soul  moves  spontaneously 
in  God  as  in  its  native  element ;  like  the  eagle 
with  outspread  and  motionless  wings,  which,  far 
up  in  the  heavenly  ether,  calmly  floats  in  an  ocean 
of  light.  Such  motion  is  rest.  The  swan,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  creations  of  the  divine  hand, 
moves  without  labored  effort  upon  the  surface  of 
the  lake.  Such  is  the  rest  of  the  soul.  It  is  not 
like  the  dead  stillness  of  the  Sea  of  Sodom,  in 
whose  lifeless  waters  nothing  stirs,  but  like  the 
deep  majestic  river,  which  by  its  own  gravity  moves 
onward  by  night  and  by  noon,  till  it  is  lost  in 
the  ocean.  The  saints'  rest  is  the  action  of  the 
soul's  powers  in  the  enjoyment  cf  God,  and  may 
be  attained  in  this  life,  but  will  be  more  perfectly 
realized  in  the  heavenly  state.  That  soul  which 
has  learned  to  rise  from  things  seen  and  temporal 
to  the  enjoyment  of  the  internal  presence  of  God, 
is  no  stranger  to  the  bliss  of  the  immortal  shores. 
He  lives  in  God,  and  moves  in  God  as  tranquilly 
as  a  vapory  mountain  floats  across  the  summer's 
sky. 

In  the  Happy  Islands  the  inhabitants  have  found 
rest  after  a  long  and  stormy  voyage. 


106  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     Oil 

"A  rest  where  all  the  seal's  desire 
Is  fixed  on  things  above  ; 
Where  fear,  and  sin,  and  grief  expire, 
Cast  out  by  perfect  love." 

Here  is  found  -what  we  had  sought  in  philoso- 
phy, and  what  the  various  sects  of  philosophers 
falsely  promised  — perfect  mental  tranquillity  —  a 
peace  not  based  upon  outward  things,  and  not 
affected  by  any  thing  external,  the  profound  rest  of 
the  soul  arising  from  the  enjoyment  of  the  supreme 
good. 

In  the  centre  of  the  island  was  a  golden  foun- 
tain. Its  waters  were  clear  as  crystal,  and  were 
like  those  that  flow  from  beneath  the  throne  of 
God.  It  was  situated  in  a  beautiful  glen  hemmed 
in  on  three  sides  by  towering  cliffs.  It  was  a  sol- 
itude fit  for  the  abode  of  Beauty  itself.  The  water 
did  not  rvish  over  the  sides  of  the  fountain,  but  it 
was  always  full,  and  no  sounding  line  had  ever 
measured  its  fathomless  depths.  I  had  never  found 
so  holy  and  delightful  a  place.  By  this  fountain 
stood  the  Divine  Man.  He  beckoned  to  me,  and 
said,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  If  any  man 
thirst,  let  him  come   unto   me  and    drink,  for  who- 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  107 

soever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him 
shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up 
into  everlasting  lifj."  I  approached  the  crystal 
pool,  and  drank  from  the  golden  cup  he  extended 
towards  me.  All  ray  inward  cravings  subsided 
into  a  divine  repose.  Every  desire  for  something 
which  I  did  not  possess  at  the  present  moment 
ceased.  In  the  possession  of  the  infinite  good,  the 
soul  had  all,  and  could  neither  ask  nor  think  of 
any  thing  more.  Long  had  my  spirit  wished  to 
reach  a  state  where  it  could  say,  "  It  is  enough," 
or  to  reproduce  the  experience  of  the  apostle  Paul, 
who  could  say,  "  I  have  learned  in  whatsoever 
state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  content." 

The  highest  state  in  religion  is  a  destruction  of 
the  selfish  will,  so  that  our  will,  without  losing 
its  individual  existence  and  activity,  perfectly  har- 
monizes with  the  will  of  God,  just  as  two  well- 
tuned  musical  strings  mingle  their  sounds  into 
one.  This  loss  of  the  selfish  will  is  the  death  of 
all  inordinate  desire.  If  we  would  enjoy  the  pro- 
foundest  repose,  we  must  cease  to  desire  any  thing 
not    included    in    the    will    of   God.      Our    useless 


108  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

wishes  and  rebellious  desires  mar  the  soul's  tran- 
quillity, as  the  falling  of  a  bank  of  earth  defiles 
the  pure  waters  of  a  flowing  stream.  We  may 
reach  a  position  of  the  Christian  life  where  we 
shall  desire  nothing  except  what  the  present  mo- 
ment affords  —  a  state  of  entire  satisfaction  and 
contentment.  We  are  not  condemned  to  a  state 
of  perpetual  thirst,  like  Tantalus,  nor  to  the  do- 
minion of  an  eternal  craving.  Our  largest  desires 
may  be  filled.  But  how  shall  this  be  attained.'' 
The  inhabitants  of  the  island,  which  I  was  visiting, 
told  me  that  I  must  give  myself  wholly  to  God, 
must  lay  my  will  at  the  foot  of  his  throne,  and 
take  him  for  my  only  portion,  imploring  him,  in 
his  love  and  unerring  providence,  to  manage  all 
my  interests  for  both  worlds,  to  give  me  all  that 
peace,  and  joy,  and  sweetness  of  love  diffused 
through  my  Avhole  being,  and  all  those  inward  and 
outward  crosses  which  may  be  necessary  to  this 
result.  Then  I  ought  to  recognize  in  the  divine 
arrangements  of  the  present  moment,  exactly  what 
the  soul  needs,  and  find  in  that  expression  of  the 
will  of  God  the  sum  and  satisfaction  of  all  my  de- 
sires.    Nothing  more  disturbs  the  inward  calmness 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  109 

of  the  spirit  than  a  restless  craving  for  something 
we  do  not  possess.  These  clamorous  desires  are 
like  a  flock  of  harpies,  whose  infectious  touch  spoils 
the  feast  the  divine  bounty  has  spread  for  us  in  the 
present  moment.  "We  have  in  an  omnipresent  Deity, 
and  in  that  divine  order  of  things  his  providence 
has  arranged  for  this  moment,  all  we  can  need. 
"Why  should  the  discontented  soul  wander  abroad 
for  more  ?  "We  have  in  the  possession  of  the  Infi- 
nite One  the  chief  ingredient  in  the  cup  of  angelic 
bliss.  "We  have  in  him  all  we  can  find  in  wealth, 
or  honor,  or  health ;  all  that  is  valuable  in  society 
and  friends,  or  home  and  country. 

The  farther  a  soul  advances  in  holiness,  and  the 
more  complete  is  its  recovery  from  the  ruins  of  the 
fall,  the  more  prayer  will  be  resolved  into  its  essence, 
which  is  the  all-comprehensive  desire,  finding  its 
appropriate  utterance  in  the  petition,  "  Thy  will  be 
done  in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."  The  nearer  one 
is  advanced  towards  the  borders  of  the  celestial 
realms,  the  less  prayer  will  busy  itself  with  par- 
ticular requests ;  the  less  it  will  ask  for  particular 
gifts.  I  was  informed  by  the  people  who  inhab- 
ited the  Island  of  Anapausis,  that  when  they  kneel 
10 


110  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

down  to  pray  in  those  holy  retreats,  with  which 
the  country  abounds,  they  sometimes  find  they  can 
only  ask  for  God.  After  drinking  of  the  waters 
of  the  fountain  of  life,  and  getting  a  taste  of  the 
divine  and  heavenly,  they  can  say  with  David, 
"  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee  ?  and  there  is 
none  upon  the  earth  I  desire  beside  thee."  Prayer 
spontaneously  goes  in  search  for  God.  Every  de- 
sire naturally  fixes  itself  upon  him.  The  soul 
wants  nothing  separate  from  God.  If  any  partic- 
ular object,  of  which  it  may  conceive,  is  contrary 
to  God,  the  heart  does  not  desire  it ;  if  it  be  less 
than  God,  it  will  not  satisfy  the  needs  of  our 
nature.  This  is  what  Catharine  Adorna  calls  the 
annihilation  of  desii'e.  It  is  more  properly  every 
desire  finding  rest  in  the  infinite  Good,  and  be- 
coming sweetly  fixed  upon  the  universal  Centre. 
The  restless  activity  of  the  desires  has  ceased, 
rather  than  the  desires  themselves.  He  who  would 
attain  to  the  deepest  tranquillity  must  not  only 
lay  down  his  will  at  Jesus'  feet,  but  must  also 
deposit  there  every  desire  of  his  spirit.  This  is 
what  Kempis  means  in  his  favorite  precept,  which 
may  truly  be  called  a  golden  rule  —  "  Part  with  all. 


PARADISE     RKSXOREU.  Ill 

and    thou    slialt    find   all.       Relinquisli    desire,    and 
thou  shalt  find  rest." 

In  the  holy  stillness  of  this  land  of  rest,  over 
which  broods  a  perpetual  Sabbath,  the  soul  finds 
itself  much  inclined  to  what  the  devout  Scougal  culls 
mental  prayer  —  a  prayer  which  can  only  be  ofi"ered 
in  adoring  silence,  as  it  is  too  deep  for  utterance, 
and  to  which  St.  Paul  perhaps  has  a  special  refer- 
ence when  he  speaks  of  the  "  Spirit  helping  our 
infirmities,  and  making  intercession  for  us,  with 
groanings  which  cannot  be  littered,"  or,  as  the  origi- 
nal will  bear,  cannot  he  worded.  This  is  the  sub- 
limest  form  of  prayer.  The  soul,  swelling  with 
ineff"able  desires,  in  the  profoundest  adoration,  holds 
itself  with  speechless  awe  in  the  divine  presence, 
and  reposes  on  the  bosom  of  Divinity,  filled  with 
all  the  silent  heaven  of  love.  This  form  of  prayer, 
though  it  is  not  to  be  practised  at  all  times  to 
the  exclusion  of  every  other,  has  this  advantage 
over  vocal  prayer,  that  the  mind  is  more  concen- 
trated or  recollected.  The  spirit  retires  behind  the 
veil  of  the  senses,  abstracts  itself  wholly  from  the 
outward  world,  turns  inward  upon  itself,  and 
adores    God   in    the    inner    chamber    of    the    heart. 


112  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OE 

This  is  worsliipping  liim  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 
In  silent  prayer  the  Deity  is  brought  inconceivably 
near.  Faith  goes  and  raps  on  the  door  of  God's 
interior  sanctuary,  where  he  dwells  alone,  con- 
cealed from  the  gaze  of  the  sensuous  host  without. 
He  opens  the  door ;  the  soul  enters,  and  is  shut 
in  with  God.  Perhaps  but  few  can  wholly  leave 
the  outward  world,  become  free  from  its  images, 
and  retire  into  the  spirit's  profoundest  recess,  shut- 
ting the  world  out,  and  the  Deity  in.  That  hour 
is  full  of  blessedness  when  the  soul,  has  such  au- 
dience with  its  Maker ;  when  it  thus  leaves  a 
noisy  world,  and  is  present  with  the  Lord.  It  is 
next  to  going  to  heaven.  It  is  heaven  begun. 
How  sweet  to  obey  the  command,  "  Be  still,  and 
know  that  I  am  God "  !  In  such  an  hour,  when 
every  desire  is  hushed  to  silence  by  an  unutter- 
able satisfaction,  the  soul  experiences  a  fulfilment 
of  the  words  of  Jesus  in  John  xvi.  23 — "In  that 
day  ye  shall  ask  me  nothing;"  or,  as  Bloomfield 
renders  it,  "In  that  day  ye  shall  have  nothing  to 
ask  me."  That  is,  such  is  the  fulness  of  a  soul 
lost  in  God,  that  it  has  nothing  more  to  ask, 
nothing  to  desire.     Want  has  fled    from  the  spirit. 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  113 

The  Infinite  and  finite  have  flowed  together,  and 
the  soul  shares  the  unutterable  tranquillity  of  the 
divine  mind.  The  soul  receives  what  Christ  in  his 
dying  legacy  left  to  his  church.  "  Peace  I  leave 
with  you ;  my  peace  I  give  unto  you.  Not  as  the 
world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you."  (John  xiv.  27.) 
It  was  the  same  peace  which  Jesus  himself  en- 
joyed, and  which  he  brought  back  from  its  flight 
to  heaven,  to  dwell  once  more  on  earth.  It  is 
heaven  pouring  itself  into  the  emptiness  of  the 
human  spirit.  It  is  what  Paul  speaks  of  as  en- 
tering into  the  rest  of  God,  partaking  the  calm 
repose  of  the  divine  Mind.  This  divine  rest  is 
not  always  an  emotional  state.  It  is  an  inex- 
pressible stillness  of  spirit,  like  that  which  reigns 
outside  the  bounds  of  creation,  in  the  solitude  of 
empty  space,  where  there  is  nothing  but  the  all- 
pervading  Deity.  It  is  a  purely  spiritual  state, 
almost  a  disembodied  state.  It  is  like  a  fathom- 
less ocean  in  a  calm.  This  profound  inward  repose 
shows  itself  in  the  calm  placidity  of  the  counte- 
nance. In  the  Happy  Islands,  the  outward  form 
of  the  people  is  made  effusive  of  the  peace  within. 
The  face  becomes  the  very  effigy  of  divine  peace. 
10* 


114  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

The  outward  man  is  moulded  into  the  image  of 
the  inner  man,  and  the  clay  tabernacle  gleams  Avith 
celestial  peace,  like  a  distant  palace  glittering  with 
the  rays  of  a  setting  sun,  or  like  a  mountain  sum- 
mit, which  rises  like  a  majestic  column  of  light 
amid  the  growing  darkness. 

Society  in  the  Happy  Islands  resembled  the  fel- 
lowship of  heaven.  In  the  world  they  had  left 
behind  there  was  a  universal  struggle,  night  and 
day,  for  Avealth.  This  restless  craving  for  riches, 
this  insatiable  lust  for  gain,  was  a  consuming  fire 
to  all  peace  of  mind,  and  engendered  a  thousand 
crimes.  But  here  all  had  attained  the  true  riches 
in  the  possession  of  God.  "  No  determinate  sum  of 
gold,  nor  quantity  of  estate,  can  make  a  man  rich, 
since  no  man  is  truly  rich  that  has  not  so  much 
as  perfectly  satiates  his  desire  of  having  more. 
For  the  desire  of  more  is  want,  and  want  is  pov- 
erty." {Meditations  of  Hon.  Charles  How.)  Here 
none  were  poor.  I  here  learned  a  lesson  which 
would  have  been  worth  a  voyage  round  the  globe 
to  acquire  —  that  he  is  not  rich  ivho  has  much,  hut 
he  who  desires  little.  He  who  desires  nothing  is 
infinitely  rich.     To  grow  rich  is  not  to  add  to  our 


PARADISE     KESTOKED.  115 

possessions,  but  to  subtract  from  our  desires.  In 
the  Happy  Islands,  the  fruitful  root  of  crime  was 
destroyed.  Here  were  no  wars,  or  quarrels,  or 
litigations ;  no  thefts  or  robberies,  or  murders,  and 
no  oppression  of  the  poor.  Earthly  things  seemed 
empty  and  vain. 

"As  by  the  light  of  opening  day 
The  stars  are  all  concealed, 
So  earthly  pleasures  fade  away, 
"When  Jesus  is  revealed. 

Creatures  no  more  divide  my  choice; 

I  bid  them  .all  depart ; 
His  name,  his  love,  his  gracious  voice 

Have  fixed  my  roving  heart." 

The  rest  which  was  here  enjoyed  consisted  in 
the  complete  satisfaction  of  all  the  wants  of  our 
being.  The  desire  of  possession,  which  is  a  fruit- 
ful source  of  disquiet  in  the  world,  and  which 
earthly  things  can  never  satisfy,  because  the  desire 
is  nourished  and  strengthened  by  the  increase  of 
our  possessions,  here  found  its  appropriate  centre 
in  the  supreme  good.  He  who  attempts  to  satisfy 
this  propensity  with  created  things,  which  are 
empty  of  God,  is  like  the  shipwrecked  sailor,  who 


116  THE     HAPTY     ISLANDS,     OK 

attempts  to  quench  the  raging  thirst,  which  con- 
sumes him,  with  the  waters  of  the  ocean  on  which 
he  floats.  A  few  drops  from  the  heavens  would 
avail  more  than  the  whole  Pacific  to  allay  his 
burning  thirst.  The  desire  of  honor,  the  thirst  for 
glory,  can  be  satisfied  only  with  the  conscious 
approbation  of  God.  The  lowest  station  in  life 
gratifies  our  love  of  honor  as  well  as  the  highest. 
The  man  who  rises  from  the  common  walks  of  life 
to  the  summit  of  worldly  honor  and  power,  is  like 
the  man  who  ascends  the  top  of  the  lofty  mountain 
which  looks  so  tranquil  as  it  leans  against  the 
heavens.  He  rises  from  the  valley  where  flowers 
grow  and  birds  sing,  leaves  the  last  trace  of  vege- 
tation below,  and  enters  the  region  of  perpetual 
congelation,  where  tempests  howl  forever  around  the 
throne  of  eternal  winter.  The  intellect  can  never 
rest  until  it  has  attained  the  true  knowledge  of 
God.  All  the  treasures  of  ancient  philosophy  and 
modern  lore  cannot  fill  the  desire  to  know  which 
is  inherent  in  our  nature.  "  Let  not  the  wise  man 
glory  in  his  wisdom ;  but  let  him  that  glorieth 
glory  in  this,  that  he  understandeth  and  knoweth 
me,  that   I  am  the  Lord,"     (Jer.  ix.  23,  24.       The 


PARADISE     RESTOKED.  117 

affections  can  repose  with,  satisfaction  only  upon 
God.  A  susceptibility  of  exercising  love  is  one  of 
the  most  valuable  powers  of  our  nature.  But  to 
prevent  this  emotion  from  being  a  source  of  dis- 
quietude, and  not  of  rest,  the  object  loved  must 
be  of  suiEcient  worth  and  excellence  to  answer  the 
vastness  of  the  capacity.  Love  soon  stretches  it- 
self beyond  every  created  object.  It  is  an  emotion 
that  was  made  for  God,  and  nothing  less  than 
infinite  moral  beauty  can  give  it  rest  —  can  afford 
it  room  to  expand  and  exert  all  its  vigor  and  ac- 
tivity. But  when  the  most  perfect  Being  is  the 
object  on  which  it  fixes,  it  may  expend  all  its 
energy.  It  can  never  outgrow  such  an  object. 
To  confine  our  love  to  the  creatures  is  to  expe- 
rience an  unsatisfied  craving  continually,  and  will 
be  a  source  of  more  torment  than  peace.  "Wouldst 
thou  find  repose  of  soul  ?  Love  the  infinite  Good. 
Love  all  other  things,  even  thyself,  for  his  sake, 
and  thou  shalt  find  rest.  Created  things  are  to 
be  loved  as  radiations  of  the  divine  Life. 

Again,  love  is  restless  without  the  presence  of 
the  object  loved.  When  the  beloved  object  is  far 
removed,    the    soul    feels    the    pang   and    chasm    of 


118  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

separation.  The  soul  cries  out,  ''  Make  haste,  my 
beloved,  and  be  like  a  roe,  or  a  young  hart,  on 
the  spicy  mountains."  How  happy,  then,  are 
those  who  supremely  love  Him  who  can  never  be 
absent  from  them.  He  would  cease  to  be  God  if 
he  ceased  to  be  every  where  present.  Love  must 
possess  God,  or  never  be  at  rest.  Pure  love  is 
disinterested,  and  asks  no  reward  except  the  object 
loved.  And  this  it  always  has.  It  is  not  possi- 
ble to  our  nature  to  love  an  object,  and  not 
desire  to  j)ossess  it.  The  soul  that  loves  God 
requires  God  in  return.  It  never  can  rest  until  it 
can  say  with  the  spouse,  from  an  inward  sense 
and  experience,  "  My  Beloved  is  mine."  How 
happy  the  soul  which  can  say,  in  e  rapture  of 
perfect  love,  "  This  God  is  our  Goci  forever  and 
ever."     O  the   immensity  of  this  possession ! 

"Earth  flies  with  all  the  charms  it  has  in  store; 
Its  snares  and  gay  temptations  are  no  more  ; 
Creatures  no  more  of  entity  can  boast  ; 
The  streams,  the  hills,  the  towering  groves  are  lost. 
The  sun,  the  stars,  and  the  fair  fields  of  light 
Withdraw,  and  now  are  banished  from  my  sight, 
And  God  is  all  in  all." 

To    create    a    soul    capable    of    loving    God,    and 


r  A  K  A  D  I  S  E     RES  T  ()  HI',!).  11  <) 

yet  to  keep  that  soul  in  the  distance,  is  to  make  a 
being  that  is  restless  from  the  necessitj-  of  his  nature 
and  situation.  In  the  Happy  Islands  he  infinitely 
shortens  the  distance  between  himself  and  our 
ransomed  souls.  It  is  thought  by  some  philoso- 
phers, that  in  the  material  world  no  two  bodies 
ever  actually  touch,  however  near  they  may  ap- 
proach to  each  other.  But  the  holy  soul  comes 
into  contact  with  the  infinite  Spirit.  He  is  above 
all,  for  the  universe  cannot  contain  him ;  he  is 
through  all,  for  his  essence  pervades  all  things ; 
and  he  is  in  all  who  love  him.  It  is  this  con- 
scious indwelling  of  the  Divinity  that  can  alone 
give  rest  to  the  soul.  Hence,  says  Dr.  Cudworth, 
"  Deiis  ipse,  sum  omni  sua  honitute,  quatenus 
extra  me  est,  non  facit  beatuin,  sed  quatenus  in 
me  est" — God  himself,  icith  all  his  goodness,  so 
far  as  he  is  without  me,  cannot  make  me  blessed, 
but  only  so  far  as  he  is  in  me.  In  the  Happy 
Islands  there  seems  to  be  nothing  but  God.  The 
soul  is  made  one  with  him  in  everlasting  love. 
The  spirit  rises  to  its  source  on  a  flame  of  love 
as  inextinguishable  as  the  fires  of  heaven,  and 
oftentimes    loses    itself    in    the    All.       Says    Mrs. 


120  THE     HAPPY     ISLAXDS,     OK 

Elizabeth  Eowe,  "  How  calm,  how  peaceful,  iu 
those  seasons  are  all  the  regions  of  my  soul  !  I 
have  enough,  I  ask  no  more.  Can  they  languish 
for  the  stream  who  drink  at  the  overflowing  foun- 
tain ?  I  have  all  the  world  and  more  !  I  have 
heaven  itself  in  thee  ;  in  thee  I  am  completely 
and  securely  blessed,  and  can  defy  the  malice  of 
earth  and  hell  to  shake  the  foundation  of  my  | 
happiness,  while  thou  dost  whisper  thy  love  to 
my  soul.  O  blessed  stability  of  heart  !  O  sub- 
lime satisfaction ! "  {Devout  Exercises  of  the 
Heart,  p.  41.) 

This  state  of  divine  repose  which  the  soul  finds 
in  communion  with  the  Deity,  seems  to  be  that 
recommended  by  Michael  de  Molinos,  a  Spanish 
priest,  who,  in  a  book  entitled  the  Spiritual  Guide, 
which  he  published  in  the  year  1681,  taught  that 
the  highest  state  in  religion  consists  in  the  perfect 
tranquillity  of  a  mind  removed  from  all  external 
and  finite  things,  and  centred  in  God,  and  in  a 
pure  and  perfect  love  of  him  for  his  own  sake,  as 
intrinsically  lovely,  independent  of  all  his  dealings 
with  us.  This  holy  quietism,  this  heavenly  sab- 
batism,   was   enjoyed   in    the  Island  of    Anapausis. 


PAKADISE     KESTORED.  121 

Here  the  spirit  attained  a  rest  so  profound,  so  far 
below  tlie  world,  in  the  abyss  of  Deity,  that  noth- 
ing could  disturb  the  deep  repose  of  the  soul.  It 
is  difficult  to  describe  it  in  words,  for  it  is  the 
peace  of  God  that  passeth  all  understanding.  It 
may  be  presented  to  the  mind  under  the  image  of 
a  boundless  ocean,  with  all  its  clouds  and  storms 
cleared  away,  and  its  restless  heavings  subsided 
into  a  motionless  placidity.  Over  this  is  seen 
nothing  but  the  blue  concave,  like  the  curtain  of 
eternity,  filled  with  a  mild  light,  which  rests  upon 
the  sea  and  illumines  its  surface.  No  sun,  nor 
moon,  nor  stars,  are  seen.  No  land  appears  in 
view.  Far  out  of  sight  of  the  world,  and  all  its 
false  show,  and  out  of  hearing  of  its  noise,  a  cross 
is  seen  on  the  surface  of  the  calm,  waveless  deep. 
On  it  there  rests  a  sleeping  infant  with  nought  to 
disturb  its  innocent  repose.  Such  rest  have  holy 
souls  in  Christ. 

He    who    would    find    rest    to    his    spirit    must 

abandon    all  created    things    as    objects  of  supreme 

afi"ection,    and    must    live    under    the   very  walls    of 

heaven,  so  that  its  immortal    bliss    shall    flow  over 

11 


122  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     O  E 

and  fill  his  soul.  All  this  he  will  enjoy  in  a  state 
of  inward  union  with  God.  In  a  little  work  on 
the  Perfect  Life,  by  an  unknown  author,  published 
about  the  year  1350,  the  writer  attempts  to  show 
that  it  is  possible  for  the  soul,  even  while  it  is 
yet  in  the  body,  to  reach  so  high  as  to  cast  a 
glance  into  eternity,  and  receive  a  foretaste  of 
eternal  life  and  eternal  blessedness.  But  in  order 
for  the  soul  to  rise  to  such  a  state,  "  she  must  be 
quite  pure,  wholly  stripped  and  bare  of  all  images, 
and  be  entirely  separate  from  all  creatures,  and 
especially  from  herself.  And  as  soon  as  a  man 
turneth  himself  in  spirit,  and  with  his  whole  heart 
and  mind  entereth  into  the  mind  of  God,  which  is 
above  all  time,  all  that  ever  he  hath  lost  is 
restored  in  a  moment ;  that  is,  the  original  divine 
fellowship  which  man  enjoyed  in  paradise,  before 
it  was  lost  through  sin,  is  brought  back  to  his 
soul.  And  if  a  man  were  to  do  thus  a  thousand 
times  in  a  day,  each  time  a  fresh  and  real  union 
would  take  place ;  and  in  this  sweet  and  divine 
work  standeth  the  truest  and  fullest  union  that 
may  be   in   this   present   time.     For   he  who    hath 


PARADISE     KESTOKED.  123 

attained    thereto    asketh    nothing    further ;     for    he 

hath    found    the     kingdom    of   heaven    and    eternal 

life    on     earth."     {Theologia     Germanica,    pp.    22, 

23.) 

"There's  quiet  in  the  deep: 
Above,  let  tides  and  tempests  rave, 
And  earthborn  whirlwinds  wake  the  wave ; 
Above,  let  care  and  fear  contend 
"With  sin  and  sorrow  to  the  end: 
Here,  far  beneath  the  tainted  foam 
That  frets  above  our  peaceful  home, 
Wc  dream  in  joy,  and  wake  in  love. 
Nor  know  the  rage  that  yells  above. 
There's  quiet  in  the  deep." 


124  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 


CHAPTER    V. 
A  DAEK  DAY  AT  THE   HAPPY  ISLANDS. 

Day  of  Trial,  —  Darkness  of  naked  Faith. —  Virtue  strug- 
gling with  opposing  Poicers.  —  The  Reason  of  these  spiritual 
combats.  —  The  Christian  Life  a  Reappearanee  of  the  Life 
of  .Tesus  in  the  Soul. — The  Childhood  of  Jesus. —  Wilder- 
ness State.  —  Poverty  of  Christ  experienced.  —  His  Servant 
Form.  —  His  Peace  and  Jog.  —  Sympathy  loith  the  final 
Hour  of  Jesus.  —  IIarmo7iy  betiveen  the  outward  World  and 
tJie  World  within.  —  Results  of  the  Trial.  —  The  Darkness 
ends.  —  The  Day  breaks. 

THERE  WAS  one  feature  of  the  climate  of  the 
Happy  Islands  that  I  had  not  expected  to 
find.  Every  day  since  my  arrival,  the  sun  had 
risen  with  unsurpassed  splendor,  and  had  never 
been  obscured  by  a  cloud.  The  nights  were  as 
delightful  as  the  day.  The  moon  and  stars  shone 
with  increased  splendor,  so  that  the  whole  land 
was  flooded  with  their  mild  radiance.  It  seemed 
a    fulfilment   of   the    prophecy,   "Thy    sun    shall    no 


PARADISK     llESTOKED.  125 

more  go  down,  nor  thy  moon  withdraw  itself;  for 
the  Lord  shall  be  thine  everlasting  light,  and  the 
days  of  thy  mourning  shall  be  ended."  (Isa.  Ixi. 
21.)  There  seemed  to  be  a  realization  of  the 
state  of  the  church  described  in  Rev.  xxii.  5  — 
"And  there  shall  be  no  night  there,  and  they 
need  no  candle,  neither  light  of  the  sun,  for  the 
Lord  God  giveth  them  light,  and  they  shall  reign 
forever  and  ever."'  The  soul  had  floated  in  an 
ocean  of  uncreated  light ;  it  had  been  given  it, 

"  With  the  deep-transported  mind,  to  soar 
Above  the  wheeling  poles,  and  at  heaven's  door 
Look  in." 

It  was  well  there  should  be  a  day  of  trial.  And 
I  learned  from  the  inhabitants  that  occasionally  the 
islands  were  enveloped  in  a  profound  darkness, 
when  neither  sun,  nor  moon,  nor  stars  could  be 
seen ;  a  midnight  strange,  such  as  nature  shud- 
dered to  behold.  It  was  observed  one  morning, 
after  an  unusually  brilliant  sunrise,  that  the  sun 
grew  pale.  This  continued  to  increase,  until, 
through  the  gloomy  haze,  only  the  outline  of  its 
disk  could  be  faintly  discerned.  The  heavens  were 
11 --^ 


126  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

still ;  all  nature  was  silent.  There  were  no  clouds 
that  rushed  angrily  across  the  sky ;  no  storm 
raved  around.  A  peculiar  solemnity  brooded  over 
all  things.  At  length  the  sun  wholly  disappeared, 
and  the  eye  could  not  trace  its  position  in  the 
heavens.  It  became  so  dark  that  objects  could  be 
discerned  only  with  difficulty.  The  sun  was  black 
as  sackcloth  of  hair.  It  brought  to  mind  a  pas- 
sage in  the  prophet  Ezekiel :  "  When  I  shall  put 
thee  out,  I  will  cover  the  heaven,  and  make  the 
stars  thereof  dark ;  I  will  cover  the  sun  with  a 
cloud,  and  the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light.  All 
the  bright  lights  of  heaven  will  I  make  dark  over 
thee,  and  set  darkness  upon  thy  land,  saith  the 
Lord  God."  (Ezek.  xxxii.  7,  8.)  I  could  say, 
with  Job,  "I  went  mourning  without  the  sun;  I 
stood  up  and  cried  in  the  congregation."  (Job 
XXX.  28.)  There  was  such  a  day  of  darkness  in 
Palestine,  and  throughout  the  world,  eighteen  cen- 
turies ago  —  a  day  of  darkness  and  the  shadow  of 
death,  a  dread  eclipse,  without  opposing  spheres. 
The  people  of  the  islands  called  such  seasons  the 
Darkness  of  naked  Faith. 

In    this    midnight    gloom    the    soul    was    assailed 


PARADISi:     KESIOKED.  127 

by  the  spirits  of  darkness,  which  I  had  supposed 
never  had  an  existence  in  this  happy  region.  I 
had  thought  that  virtue  here  had  to  encounter  no 
hostile  forces.  While  I  wondered  at  finding  my- 
self surrounded  by  principalities  and  powers,  and 
wicked  spirits  in  heavenly  places,  a  divine  voice 
seemed  to  roll  through  the  past  centuries,  and 
reach  my  ear  —  "Think  it  not  strange  concerning 
the  fiery  trial  which  is  to  try  you,  as  though 
some  strange  thing  had  happened  unto  you ;  but 
rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye  are  made  partakers  of 
Christ's  suff"erings,  that  when  his  glory  shall  be 
revealed,  ye  may  be  glad  with  exceeding  joy." 
(1  Pet.  iv.  12,  13.)  The  reason  why  the  pow- 
ers of  darkness  were  permitted  to  invade  these 
peaceful  and  holy  scenes,  was  afterwards  fully  un- 
derstood. The  aim  of  the  divine  administration  is 
the  creation  of  the  greatest  amount  of  holiness, 
and  the  consequent  happiness,  in  the  universe. 
This  end  is  kept  steadily  in  view  in  the  govern- 
ment of  free  agents,  and  unerring  wisdom  adopts 
all  the  means  necessary  to  secure  this  result. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  islands  desired  to  avail 
themselves  of  all  the  redemptive  agencies,  in  order 


128  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OB 

to  reach  the  highest  degree  of  holiness.  Now  the 
most  exalted  form  of  virtue,  in  this  stage  of  our 
existence,  is  virtue  struggling  with  opposing  pow- 
ers, and  taking  up  arms  against  a  host  of  hostile 
influences.  Hence  Adam  was  tempted  in  Paradise. 
Hence,  in  order  to  exhibit  the  holiness  of  the 
character  of  Jesus  in  its  most  intense  aspect,  he 
was  assailed  by  all  the  forces  of  hell.  But  be- 
hold, in  this  struggle  of  free  will  against  the  gates 
of  hell,  the  most  exalted  form  of  holiness.  In  this 
struggle  the  soul  grows  strong,  just  as  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Sandwich  Islands  believed  that  the 
strength  of  an  enemy  slain  in  battle  passed  into 
the  victor.  The  object  of  a  probationary  disci- 
pline is  the  establishment  in  the  free  agent  of 
fixed  habits  of  holiness.  Every  temptation,  success- 
fully encountered,  serves  to  settle  the  soul  in  its 
Christian  position.  Hence  the  perfect  man  of  Uz 
had  to  encounter  the  principle  of  evil.  Abraham, 
also,  the  friend  of  God,  was  severely  tried.  His 
virtue  was  subjected  to  a  fiery  test,  in  order  that 
it  might  not  be  a  mere  surface  coloring,  but  might 
strike  through  into  the  very  texture  of  the  soul. 
He  who    desires  to  be  holy  in  the  highest  possible 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  129 

degree,  and  sees  in  temptation  a  means  to  such  an 
end,  will  learn  to  obey  the  precept,  "  Count  it  all 
joy  when  ye  fall  into  divers  temptations ; "  like 
soldiers  striking  their  shields  against  their  spears, 
and  rushing  to  battle  with  shouts  and  songs.  It 
seemed  to  me,  during  this  day  of  darkness,  that 
the  experience  so  vividly  described  by  David  was 
reproduced  :  "  Be  not  far  from  me,  for  trouble  is 
near  ;  for  there  is  none  to  help.  Many  bulls  have 
compassed  me  ;  strong  bulls  of  Bashan  have  beset 
me  round.  They  gaped  upon  me  with  their 
mouths,  as  a  ravening  and  roaring  lion.  I  am 
poured  out  like  water,  and  all  my  bones  are  out 
of  joint;  my  heart  is  like  wax;  it  is  melted  in 
the  midst  of  my  bowels.  My  strength  is  dried  up 
like  a  potsherd ;  and  my  tongue  cleaveth  to  my 
jaws  ;  and  thou  hast  brought  me  into  the  dust  of 
death.''     (Ps.  xxii.   11-15.) 

The  Christian  life,  in  its  profoundest  import,  not 
as  something  outward,  not  as  a  series  of  external 
actions,  is  a  following  of  Christ.  It  is  a  reappear- 
ance, in  the  interior  experience  of  the  disciple,  of 
the  different  states  of  the  Master.  It  is  a  putting 
on    of   Christ — an    expression    borrowed  from    the 


130  THE     HArrY     ISLANDS,     OR 

ancient  stage.  It  is  Christ  formed  within.  We 
must  pass  through  the  childhood  of  Jesus.  For 
except  a  man  be  converted,  and  become  as  a  little 
child,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
For  that  kingdom  is  not  entered  by  motion  through 
space,  as  you  would  pass  into  the  domains  of  an 
earthly  monarch,  but  by  the  possession  of  holy 
dispositions  and  tempers.  We  must  possess  the 
believing,  confiding,  humble,  and  docile  temper  of 
the  child  Jesus,  who  increased  in  wisdom  and 
favor,  both  with  God  and  men.  The  innocent 
attributes  of  childhood  must  be  restored  to  our 
fallen  souls.  "  He  that  shall  humble  himself,  as 
this  little  child,  shall  be  great  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven." 

There  was  the  temptation  of  Christ  in  the  wilder- 
ness. As  the  Messiah,  in  the  early  part  of  his 
ministry,  was  led  into  the  desert,  so  every  disciple, 
in  the  early  stage  of  his  experience  of  the  higher, 
hidden  life  of  Christianity,  must  pass  into  a  wil- 
derness state.  The  restored  spirit  must  be  disci- 
plined l'.:r  a  higher  and  holier  flight  into  the 
enjoyment  of  the  Deity.  Our  love  must  be  puri- 
fied   from    all    taint    of   earth    and    self,    so    that    it 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  131 

shall  ascend  a  pure,  seraphic  flame,  without  smoke 
or  earthy  vapor,  and  the  heart  shall  become  a 
golden  lamp,  burning  perpetually  before  the  throne 
of  God.  Pure  love  is  not  so  much  an  emotion  as 
a  fixed  state  of  a  will  in  harmony  with  God.  An 
excited  state  of  the  pleasurable  emotions  is  not  the 
highest  position  in  religion.  There  is  a  more 
commanding  standing  ground  —  one  farther  inward 
from  the  circumference  towards  the  great  central 
Life.  In  entering  upon  the  higher  life,  the  soul 
must  learn  to  love  holiness  for  its  own  intrinsic 
excellence,  and  not  merely  as  a  means  of  exciting 
in  us  blissful  ecstasies.  The  first  feature  of  the 
wilderness  state  is  a  cessation  of  all  the  pleasurable 
emotions  of  the  soul.  The  heart  sometimes  expe- 
riences a  state  it  is  not  easy  to  describe.  There 
is  no  emotion  of  any  kind,  no  active  desire,  no 
joy,  no  conscious  peace,  no  misery,  no  guilt. 
There  is  a  suspension  of  the  soul's  sensibility.  A 
desert  is  not  more  destitute  of  flowers  than  is  the 
spirit  of  emotions.  It  is  a  state  of  inward  empti- 
ness. It  is  not  necessarily  an  unhappy  condition. 
The  soul  is  like  the  clear  blue  vault  of  heaven 
on  a  winter  day,  when    no    cloud   is    geen,  and    no 


L32  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

winds  are  abroad.  This  absence  of  emotion  may- 
be a  "  peaceful  vacancy,"  though  we  are  often 
alarmed  ;  just  as  a  traveller  on  a  lonely  mountain 
summit  sometimes  is  terrified  at  the  very  silence 
which  there  reigns.  It  seems  more  dreadful  to 
him  than  the  loudest  thunder.  This  inward  still- 
ness is  often  attended  with  a  restless  and  painful 
longing,  and  with  an  apprehension  that  God  has 
abandoned  us ;  the  soul,  in  its  blindness,  having 
taken  the  gifts  of  God  for  himself.  If  we  set  our- 
selves to  enjoy  the  highest  results  of  the  Christian 
experience,  and  to  be  wholly  the  Lord's,  the 
question  must  soon  be  settled,  whether  we  love 
God  as  a  means  of  our  happiness,  or  for  his  own 
sake.  If  we  can  be  satisfied  with  nothing  but  the 
intoxication  of  emotion,  we  give  him  an  altogether 
secondary  place  in  our  affections ;  we  make  him 
only  a  means  of  our  enjoyment,  instead  of  sacri- 
ficing ourselves  to  him.  Such  a  soul  has  not  fully 
lost  itself  in  God.  We  should  aim  to  realize  what 
was  called  by  Archbishop  Fenelon  a  state  of 
pure  love  —  a  disinterested  love,  a  love  of  order, 
of  absolute  beauty,  and  perfection,  superior  to  every 
agreeable     sensation,    and    which    can    act    in    the 


PARADISE     RKSXORKD.  133 

absence  of  all  the  sensible  pleasures  and  consola- 
tions of  grace.  The  soul,  at  such  a  time,  may  have 
no  feeling,  no  happy  emotion,  on  which  its  faith 
may  lean.  Yet  it  still  holds  to  God,  and  loves 
him  for  his  own  sake  above  all  his  gifts.  It  is 
conscious,  in  its  profoundest  depths,  of  a  refined 
satisfaction  with  God  and  complacency  in  him. 
The  love  that  exists  in  such  a  state  of  naked  faitla 
is  the  purest  form  of  Christian  love.  It  has  less 
of  self  in  it.  The  finite  recedes,  and  the  Infinite 
fills  the  afi"ections.  It  is  as  pure  as  the  breeze 
that  fans  an  angel's  brow.  It  may  not  be  an 
emotion.  It  is  deeper  than  an  emotion.  We  are 
told  that  there  arc  depths  of  the  ocean  where  the 
plummet  sinks  below  all  the  currents  and  disturb- 
ances of  the  surface,  and  where  eternal  stillness 
reigns.  So  of  the  soul  in  this  state  of  naked  faith 
and  pure  love.  It  is  an  angelic  flame,  still  and 
silent  as  the  unfathomed  depth  of  the  sea.  A  statj 
of  naked  faith,  or  what  some  writers  on  inward 
experience  denominate  the  wilderness  state,  is  a 
most  beneficial  mental  condition,  if  the  spirit  does 
not  falter,  and  if  the  will  holds  the  soul,  emptied 
of  all  desires  and  emotions,  in  the  presence  of  God. 
12 


134  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

We  should  not  be  seized  with  a  panic,  nor  struggle 
to  work  ourselves  into  an  emotional  frame.  If  the 
enemy  insultingly  asks,  Where  is  now  thy  God  ? 
stand  like  Christ  before  the  bar  of  Pilate  in  tri- 
umphant silence  ;  or,  if  you  s|}eak,  let  praise  flow 
from  your  lips  like  melody  from  the  string.  Alas, 
how  many  stumble  and  fall  when  the  divine  Shep- 
herd leads  them  into  the  desert,  to  wean  them 
from  themselves  and  the  world,  and  purge  from  the 
soul  all  its  sensuous  and  earthy  images  !  This  is 
the  crisis  in  the  experience  of  the  hidden  life.  It 
is  a  spiritual  Rubicon.  If  we  cross  it,  victory 
and  empire  await  us  in  the  future. 

After  Christ  had  been  in  the  wilderness  without 
bread  for  forty  days,  "  his  soul  was  an  hungered." 
So  we  must  remain  in  the  desert  until  our  crav- 
ing for  God  shall  become  so  intense,  that,  over- 
looking all  his  gifts,  we  shall  ask  only  for 
himself. 

The  poverty  of  Christ,  his  looseness  from  the 
world  and  the  things  of  earth,  must  be  repro- 
duced by  the  disciple.  The  Son  of  Man  had  not 
where  to  lay  his  head.  The  follower  of  Jesus 
must    pass    through    a    similar    state.      Though    in 


PARADISE     11  EST  Oil  ED.  135 

the  midst  of  wealth  and  honors,  he  must  experi- 
ence their  emptiness  and  vanity,  and  divest  his 
heart  of  the  love  of  them.  He  must  inwardly  for- 
sake all,  and  emptied  of  the  creatures,  which  can 
never  satisfy  the  yearnings  of  his  higher  nature, 
the  abyss  of  the  soul  must  echo  with  the  cry  for 
the  supreme  Good.  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in 
spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Gen- 
uine Christ-like  poverty  is  more  an  inward  tlian 
an  outward  condition.  Some  have  erred  here.  In 
the  age  of  Constantino,  when,  with  all  the  means 
at  the  disposal  of  a  despotic  prince,  he  heaped 
riches  and  honors  upon  the  church,  a  strange  en- 
thusiasm seized  a  portion  of  the  Christian  mind  of 
the  times  to  reproduce  the  unworldly  spirit  and 
poverty  of  Christ.  This  vast  movement  of  the 
Christian  spirit  had  its  uses  in  the  scheme  of  the 
Messiah's  providence,  in  counteracting  the  worldly 
tendency  of  the  church ;  yet  there  was  an  error 
at  bottom.  It  is  not  so  much  the  outward  form 
of  the  Redeemer's  poverty,  as  his  poverty  of 
spirit,  that  is  to  be  experienced  by  his  follow- 
ers. Monachism  erred  in  fleeing  to  the  sol- 
itudes   of    the    desert    in    order    to    reproduce    the 


136  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

poverty    of   Christ.      It    raay  be    experienced    on    a 
throne. 

The  Divinity,  as  he  appeared  in  Christ,  assumed 
the  form  of  a  servant,  and  performed  the  most 
menial  offices,  even  washing  the  feet  of  the  dis- 
ciples. He  hints  to  his  followers  that  they  should 
imitate  his  servant  form,  especially  in  its  inward 
sjiirit,  when  he  says,  on  laying  aside  the  towel 
with  which  he  was  girded,  "  What  I  do  ye  know 
not  now,  but  ye  shall  know  hereafter."  This  state 
must  be  experienced.  This  state  of  condescending 
love  must  be  a  permanent  one,  and  coeval  with 
the  whole  Christian  life.  It  appears  in  the  very 
first  breathings  of  the  new  Christian  spirit  —  a 
spirit  of  love,  a  desire  to  call  down  upon  the  head 
of  every  living  being  the  blessing  of  God,  and  to 
wring  out  to  every  soul  of  man  a  full  cup  of 
blessedness. 

"  0  that  the  -world  might  taste  and  see 
The  riches  of  his  grace  ! 
The  arms  of  love  that  compass  me 
Would  all  mankind  embrace." 

For  the  perfection  of  the  human  spirit,  and  its 
perfect  discipline  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  life  eter- 


PAKADISE     KESXOKKD.  137 

nal,  it  must  be  a  partaker  of  all  the  different 
states  of  Christ.  In  the  light  of  this  truth,  how 
beautifully  appears  his  promise  to  his  disciples  just 
before  his  departure  from  the  world  !  —  "  Peace  I 
leave  with  you ;  my  peace  I  give  unto  you.  Not 
as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you."  That  is, 
this  is  not  a  mere  empty  form  of  valediction,  or 
farewell,  like  the  customary  adieu,  or  good  by,  but 
a  real  inward  peace  and  solid  repose,  a  reproduc- 
tion in  your  soul  of  the  calm  tranquillity  and  di- 
vine serenity  of  my  own  heart.  The  joy  of  Christ 
is  also  to  be  experienced  by  the  disciple.  "  These 
things  I  speak  in  the  world,  that  they  might  have 
my  joy  fulfilled  in  themselves."  (John  xvii.  13.) 
In  another  place  he  says,  "  These  things  have  I 
spoken  unto  you,  that  my  joy  might  remain  in 
you,  and  that  your  joy  might  be  full."  (John 
XV.    11.) 

We  are  now  prepared  to  see  that  the  disciple 
who  gives  himself  up  to  follow  the  Master  whith- 
ersoever he  goeth,  must  sooner  or  later  be  crucified 
with  Christ,  or  share  the  agony  of  the  final  hour 
of  Jesus.  He  must  not  only  ride  with  him  in 
triumph  into  Jerusalem,  and  share  the  glory  of  the 
12^^ 


138  THE     HAPPY     ISIiANDS,     Oil 

theocratic  king,  but  must  sympathize  with  his 
atoning  death  struggle.  This  is  necessary  in  order 
to  rise  into  the  highest  degree  of  Christian  life. 
He  must  bear  about  in  his  body  the  dying  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  in  order  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus 
may  be  made  manifest  in  our  mortal  flesh.  It  was 
not  the  thorns,  not  the  nails,  nor  the  unfeeling 
scoffs  of  a  heartless  mob,  that  made  up  the  sum 
of  his  sufferings  in  the  final  hour.  These  were 
but  a  drop  in  his  sad  cup.  It  was  the  withdrawal 
of  the  conscious  presence  of  his  Father.  "  This 
was  the  finishing  stroke  of  the  hand  of  God  that 
smote  that  Man  of  Sorrows.  This  was  what  con- 
summated the  sacrifice."  It  was  this  that  extorted 
the  exclamation,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
thou  forsaken  me  r  Why  art  thou  so  far  from 
helping  me,  and  from  the  words  of  my  roaring  ? " 
(Ps.  xxii.  1.)  So  the  believer  must  pass  through 
a  state  of  internal  anguish,  obscurity,  and  apparent 
abandonment  of  God.  We  must  taste  something 
of  the  deep  soul-agony  of  Gethsemane  and  Calvary. 
We  shall  experience  a  withdrawal  of  all  sensible 
divine  comfort,  and  the  soul  must  be  thrown  upon 
its   own   resources.     This    is    the    severest    trial    of 


PARADISE     KESTORED.  139 

the  whole  Christian  life.  To  rejoice  that  we  are 
made  partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings  is  the  hardest 
lesson  a  Christian  has  to  learn  in  the  school  of 
Christ ;  yet  it  may  be  learned  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 
Says  Kempis,  "  It  requires  no  considerable  effort 
to  despise  human  consolation,  when  we  are  pos- 
sessed of  divine.  But  it  is  transcendent  greatness 
to  bear  the  want  of  both,  and  without  self-condo- 
lence, or  the  least  retrospection  on  our  own  imagi- 
nary worth,  patiently  to  suffer  desolation  of  heart 
for  the  glory  of  God."  {Imitation  of  Christ,  p.  94.) 
This  is  a  kind  of  spiritual  martyrdom,  an  inward 
crucifixion.  It  is  preeminently  referred  to  in  Rom. 
viii.  17,  where  we  are  said  to  be  heirs  of  God, 
and  joint  heirs  with  Christ,  if  so  be  that  we  suffer 
with  him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  together. 
Happy  the  man  whose  desolate  spirit,  while  pass- 
ing through  those  deaths  and  hells  that  sometimes 
accompany  the  birth  of  the  soul  into  a  higher 
stage  of  life,  can  say,  "  Though  he  slay  me,  yet 
will  I  trust  in  him."  Like  as  Christ  entered  into 
rest  through  the  suffering  of  death,  so  the  soul 
that  thus  trusts  God  in  this  gloomy  hour  will  re- 
joice   to    find    that     by    subduing    his     earthly    and 


140  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

selfish  nature,  it  yields  to  him  a  rich  harvest  of 
divine  peace. 

During  this  day  of  darkness  at  the  Happy  Isl- 
ands, there  was  a  complete  harmony  between  the 
outward  world  and  the  world  Avithin.  This  I 
found  was  always  the  case  during  my  stay  in  the 
country.  When  God  withdraws  his  conscious  pres- 
ence, nature  is  clothed  in  gloom.  Nothing  can 
cheer  the  soul,  not  even  the  smiles  of  angels.  I 
could  say  with  David,  "  Thou  didst  hide  thy  face, 
and  I  was  troubled."  (Ps.  xxx.  7.)  Yet  my  soul 
could  say  with  confidence,  as  it  turned  its  im- 
ploring gaze  upward  to  Him 

"Whose  throne  is  darkness  in  the  abyss  of  light, 
A  flood  of  glory  which  forbids  the  sight,"  — 

"  Thou  wilt  light  my  candle ;  the  Lord  my  God 
will  enlighten  my  darkness."  (Ps.  xviii.  28.) 
Though  the  earth  was  without  form  and  void,  and 
darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  yet  I  re- 
joiced to  know  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  moving 
upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  I  patiently  waited 
the  time  when  the  creative  word  should  go  forth, 
Let   there    be   light,    and    then    light   would   flash 


TAKADISE     KESTOEED.  141 

amid  the  chaos.  The  spu-it  felt,  as  never  before, 
that  God  was  its  supreme  good.  In  this  temporary 
removal  of  his  manifested  presence,  it  saw  how 
necessary  he  was  to  its  rest.  His  gifts  would  not 
suffice.  The  last  tie  that  bound  the  heart  to  earthly 
and  finite  good  was  broken.  I  was  dead,  and  my 
life  was  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  It  was  ever 
deemed  the  best  day  of  my  religious  history.  It 
demonstrated  the  strength  of  my  love.  At  a  time 
when  it  has  appeared  to  others  that  they  did  not 
love  God  at  all,  because  of  the  absence  of  the 
emotion  of  love,  and  of  the  sensible  presence  of 
God,  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  never  loved  him  so 
much.  Love  never  shows  itself  so  strong  as  when 
called  upon  to  separate  from  its  adored  object. 
In  this  apparent  departure  of  God  from  the  soul, 
its  very  misery  arises  from  the  strength  of  its  love 
If  it  does  not  love  God,  why  this  all-absorbing 
desire  for  his  return :  Why  this  intense  longing 
to  be  with  him,  so  that  we  can  say,  "  My  soul 
longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the  courts  of  the 
Lord.  "When  shall  I  come  and  appear  before 
God  ?  "  AVhy  does  the  fond  spirit  say  to  Him  it 
adores,  when  fearing  his  absence,  — 


142  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

"  Sta)',  ray  beloved,  with  rac  here ; 
Stay  till  the  morning  star  appear; 
Stay  till  the  dusky  shadows  fly 
Before  the  day's  illustrious  eye." 

The  heart  of  the  wicked  saj's,  in  its  want  of 
affinity  for  God,  and  its  instinctive  repugnance  to 
the  divine,  "  Depart  from  me,  for  I  desire  not  the 
knowledge  of  thy  ways."  The  repulsion  between 
a  depraved  nature  and  the  Holy  One  led  the  de- 
moniac of  Gadara  to  say,  "  What  have  I  to  do 
with  thee,  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  God."  But  the 
spouse,  in  the  absence  of  him  whom  her  soul  loved 
could  say,  "  I  will  arise  now,  and  go  about  the 
city,  and  in  the  broad  ways ;  I  will  seek  him  whom 
my  soul  loveth."  In  withdrawing  from  the  soul 
his  conscious  presence,  and  bringing  it  into  the 
shadow  of  death,  God  aims  both  to  test  the 
strength  of  its  love,  and  to  increase  it.  Blessed 
is  that  heart  which  has  learned  this  truth,  and  can 
distinguish  between  pleasurable  emotions  and  God, 
between  a  peace  which  is  the  gift  of  God  and  the 
God  of  peace.  That  day  brought  the  soul  into  a 
more  intimate  union  with  its  divine  Centre.  From 
that  era  the  veil  that  separated  my  spirit  from  the 
Deity     became     exceedingly    transparent,    and     the 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  143 

Invisible  appeared  in  sight.  Durins?  this  horror  of 
great  darkness  that  settled  like  a  curtain  of  sack- 
cloth over  the  land,  there  were  occasionally  flashes 
of  light.  Sometimes  a  promise  broke  through  the 
gloom,  like  a  star  looking  from,  behind  a  midnight 
cloud.  This  passage  flashed  out  upon  the  dark- 
ened heavens  —  "There  is  but  a  moment  in  his 
anger ;  in  his  favor  is  life ;  weeping  may  endure 
for  a  night,  but  joy  cometh  in  the  morning." 
(Ps.  XXX.  5.)  These  gleams  of  light  became  in- 
creasingly frequent,  until  a  whole  constellation  of 
divine  promises  was  hung  out  in  the  heavens  bv 
the  hand  of  God,  as  darkness  shows  us  worlds  of 
light  we  never  saw  by  day.  At  length  the  dismal 
curtain  over  the  heavens  exhibited  numerous  rents. 
The  celestial  light  leaked  through.  The  gloomy 
funereal  pall  was  lifted  at  last  from  the  w^estern 
horizon,  and  the  divine  Artist  painted  on  the  black 
canvas  the  bow  of  many  colors,  the  sign  of  the 
covenant,  and  the  sjTiibol  of  peace.  So  glorious 
a  sunset  my  eyes  never  beheld. 

"Confusion  hears  his  voice,  and  wild  uproar 
Stands  ruled,  and  at  his  bidding,  darkness  flics, 
Light  shines,  and  order  from  disorder  springs." 


144  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

The  night  following  was  one  of  unusual  bril- 
liancy. The  Aurora  marched  across  the  Hiavens. 
The  moon  serenely  floated  in  the  pure  ether.  The 
heavens  proclaimed  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  earth 
seemed  full  of  his  riches.  The  transition  from 
such  a  night  to  the  following  day  was  hardly  per- 
ceptible. Above  the  melody  of  the  spheres  there 
came  a  voice  to  the  soul,  —  God  is  all. 

"  There's  not  a  tint  that  paints  the  rose, 
Or  decks  the  lily  fair, 
Or  streaks  the  humblest  flower  that  grows. 
But  Heaven  has  placed  it  there. 

There's  not  of  grass  a  single  blade, 

Or  leaf  of  lowliest  mien, 
Where  heavenly  skill  is  not  displayed, 

And  heavenly  wisdom  seen. 

There's  not  a  cloud  whose  dews  distil 

Upon  the  parched  clod, 
And  clothe  with  verdure  vale  and  hill, 

That  is  not  sent  by  God. 

There's  not  a  star  whose  twinkling  light 

Illumes  the  distant  earth. 
And  cheers  the  solemn  gloom  of  night, 

But  Heaven  gave  it  birth. 

There's  not  a  place  in  earth's  vast  round, 
In  ocean's  depths,  or  air. 


PAKADISE     RESTORED.  145 

Where  skill  and  wisdom  are  not  found, 
For  God  is  every  where. 

Around,  beneath,  below,  above, 

Wherever  space  extends. 
There  heaven  displays  its  boundless  love. 

And  power  with  goodness  blends." 

13 


146 


THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 


CHAPTER   VI. 
THE   ISLAND   OF  EUPKROSYNE. 


The  Scenery.  —  Tlie  Appearance  of  the  oxdicard  World  de- 
2)ends  vpoti  the  State  of  the  Soul.  —  Effect  of  Melancholy.  — 
Peace,  Joy,  Purity.  —  The  Art  of  being  always  happy. 
Ceaseless  Praise.  —  Rejoicing  in  the  Lord.  —  The  DeseH 
becomes  a  fruitful  Field.  —  The  Valley  of  Baca  filed  icith 
Pools.  —  The  Triumph  of  Habakkuk.  —  A  Plant  which 
symbolizes  sxich  a  State.  —  St.  Paid.  —  The  Mount  of  Pu- 
rity. —  Perennial  Springs.  —  Enraptxtring  Vieio  from  the 
Summit.  —  What  a  Mountaiii  symbolizes.  —  Effect  of  the 
View  upon  the  Soid.  —  Quotation  from  Baxter. 

IIARLY  IN  the  morning  after  the  dark  day,  I 
J  crossed  over  to  the  Island  Euphrosyne.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  delightful  of  the  whole  group 
—  a  land  of  joy,  favored  with  God's  peculiar  smile. 
The  morning  was  clear  and  bright.  Birds  of  sweet- 
est song  filled  the  skies  with  their  melody.  A 
thousand  varieties  of  flowers,  scattered  over  the 
meadows    and   pastures,    flung    their   odors   to    the 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  147 

passing  breezes,  and  perfumed  the  whole  land. 
Beds  of  violets,  hedges  of  fresh-blown  roses,  clus- 
ters of  orange  trees  in  blossom,  were  seen  beside 
the  roads,  and  on  the  banks  of  brooks  that  flowed 
joyfully  along.  These  beautiful  rivulets,  rolling 
musically  over  their  pebbly  beds,  flowed  by  cot- 
tages, and  through  neat  and  highly  cultivated  gar- 
dens, and  sometimes  under  triumphal  arches  of 
flowering  vines.  Here  I  saw  the  lambs  in  their 
innocent  gambols  around  the  kind  shepherd.  The 
shouts  of  happy  childhood  greeted  the  ear ;  the 
winds  sported  with  the  leaf,  and  the  sunbeams 
glittered  in  the  dewdrops.  Above  all  was  heard, 
in  every  direction,  songs  of  praise  which  ascended 
from  a  thousand  hearts,  for  it  was  the  hour  of 
morning  prayer.  All  the  joyful  voices  of  nature, 
and  the  music  of  human  voices  which  were  min- 
gled together,  did  not  sound  like  boisterous  mirth. 
The  whole  was  ■  chastened  and  hallowed  by  the 
presence  of  God,  which  brooded  over  the  scene. 
These  appearances  of  the  outward  world  seemed  to 
be  the  pulsations  of  God's  infinit--^  heart  of  joy. 
It  was  the  bliss  of  the  divine  Mind,  overflowing 
in  cheerful  creations  of  his  hand.     Every  thing  has 


148  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

a    charm    to    the    holy    soul,    if  it   sees   a  present 
Deity  in  it. 

"It  is  his  presence  that  diffuses  charms 
Unspeakable,  o'er  mountain,  wood,  and  stream. 
To  think  that  He,  who  hears  the  heavenly  choirs, 
Hearkens  complacent  to  the  woodland  song ; 
To  think  that  He,  who  rolls  yon  solar  sphere, 
Uplifts  the  warbling  songster  to  the  sky ; 
To  mark  his  presence  in  the  mighty  bow 
That  spans  the  clouds  as  in  the  tints  minute 
Of  tiniest  flower;  to  hear  his  awful  voice 
In  thunder  speak,  and  whisper  in  the  gale ; 
To  know  and  feel  his  care  for  all  that  lives ; 
'Tis  this  that  makes  the  barren  waste  appear 
A  fruitful  field,  each  grove  a  paradise ! " 

In  this  island  were  forests  of  trees  whose  leaf 
never  withered.  The  hills  were  clothed  in  unfad- 
ing green.  The  tall,  graceful  palm  was  found  in 
abundance,  which  gave  to  the  scenery  an  air  of 
perpetual  triumph.  This  majestic  tree  has  some 
peculiarities  which  fit  it  for  its  symbolical  use  as 
the  emblem  of  victory  and  joy.  Plutarch  tells  us 
that  it  was  its  natural  property  to  rise  up  against 
pressure,  so  that  it  flourished  in  proportion  to  the 
weights  attached  to  it  to  depress  it.  It  retains 
also  its  youthful  vigor  to  an  extreme  age,  so  that 
the   ancients    accounted   it  immortal,  or  at  least,  if 


PARADISE     EESTORED.  149 

it  did  die,  it  recovered  again,  and  obtained  a 
second  life  by  renewal.  It,  moreover,  belongs 
to  the  class  of  plants  that  do  not  grow  from  ex- 
ternal accretions,  but  from  internal  additions.  It 
grows  from  the  centre  outwards.  With  what  pro- 
priety does  the  Psalmist  say,  "  The  righteous  shall 
flourish  as  the  palm  tree."  (Ps.  xciii.  12.)  There 
were  other  trees  on  the  island,  but  this  was  the 
prevailing  one,  and  gave  character  to  the  scenery. 
There  they  stood  upon  the  plain,  wa\-ing  their 
plume-like  crown  of  leaves  before  the  breeze. 
You  seemed  to  stand  amid  a  forest  of  triumphal 
columns.  The  myrtle  was  also  found  in  abun- 
dance beneath  the  majestic  palms.  It  is  a  tender 
and  lowly  shrub,  and  "  much  resembles  the  saints." 
It  is  full  of  fragrance,  an  incense  worthy  of  Para- 
dise ;  it  is  an  evergreen,  as  it  never  withers,  sum- 
mer or  winter.  I  observed  also  the  sacred  banyan, 
beneath  whose  inviting  shade  thousands  could  as- 
semble for  prayer  and  praise.  It  stood  in  the 
centre  of  a  public  garden,  as  a  temple  built  by  an 
invisible  hand,  for  a  spiritual  worship.  It  had  a 
charm  for  the  holy  soul  above  that  of  Solomon's,  flam- 
ing in  gold.  For  ages  the  noiseless  fabric  had  grov/n, 
13-- 


150  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

"  a  pillared  shade, 
High  overarched,  and  echoing  walks  between." 

It  was  in  such  a  cathedral  that  our  first  parents 
adored  a  present  Deity.  How  sweet  to  walk  in 
such  a  sanctuary  when  the  firmament  glitters  like 
a  dome  of  pearls,  and  the  rays  of  the  peaceful 
moon  struggle  through  the  branches,  and  fall  quiv- 
ering upon  the  grass  beneath  !  In  such  an  hour 
the  soul  may  mingle  with  the  universe,  and  feel 
as  angels  feel. 

The  appearance  of  the  external  world  depends 
much  upon  the  state  of  the  soul.  If  melancholy 
brood  over  the  mind,  like  a  dark  cloud  enveloping 
the  summit  of  a  mountain,  all  nature  appears  in  a 
gloomy  aspect.  It  spreads  a  pall  of  darkness  over 
the  world.  Its  presence  in  the  soul  saddens  the 
fair  scene  without,  darkens  the  tints  of  nature's 
coloring,  shades  the  flowers,  and  deepens  the  mu- 
sic of  the  winds  and  the  waterfalls,  and  all  the 
sweet  voices  of  nature,  into  dirge-like  strains.  If 
the  state  of  the  soul  be  that  of  profound  and  un- 
utterable peace,  it  throws  over  the  objective  world 
the  mellow  morning  light  of  its  own  tranquillity. 
If  the  heart  be  joyful,  it  throws  its  sunshine  upon 


PAK.ADISE     KESXOllED.  151 

every  thing  without.  It  gilds  the  external  scene 
with  the  beams  of  its  own  delight.  So  to  the 
pure  every  thing  is  pure.  The  holy  man  walks 
through  society  like  a  sunbeam  through  an  infected 
hospital,  uncontaminated  by  the  touch.  God  is 
every  where,  and  nature  is  decked  with  a  white 
robe  of  seraphic  purity.  But  to  the  impure  heart 
all  nature  is  full  of  uncleanness.  It  can  see  noth- 
ing but  the  images  of  its  own  sensuality.  The 
outward  world  shapes  itself  to  the  various  mental 
states  of  men.  When  the  image  of  God  is  fully 
restored  to  our  fallen  nature,  and  the  soul  looks 
out  upon  the  external  creation  through  a  pure 
medium,  then  a  Paradise  blooms  in  every  spot. 
The  grand  and  the  beautiful,  which  every  where 
exist,  become  the  symbolization  of  moral  and 
spiritual  qualities,  and  of  celestial  realities,  and 
the  New  Jerusalem  comes  down  from  God  out  of 
heaven,  adorned  as  a  bride  for  her  husband.  When 
we  reach  a  position  of  Christian  experience  en- 
joined in  the  command,  "  Rejoice  evermore,"  all 
nature  becomes  vocal  with  praise.  In  the  language 
of  Mrs.   Opie, 


132  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

winds  are  abroad.  This  absence  of  emotion  may 
be  a  "  peaceful  vacancy,"  though  we  are  often 
alarmed  ;  just  as  a  traveller  on  a  lonely  mountain 
summit  sometimes  is  terrified  at  the  very  silence 
which  there  reigns.  It  seems  more  dreadful  to 
him  than  the  loudest  thunder.  This  inward  still- 
ness is  often  attended  with  a  restless  and  painful 
longing,  and  with  an  apprehension  that  God  has 
abandoned  us ;  the  soul,  in  its  blindness,  having 
taken  the  gifts  of  God  for  himself.  If  we  set  our- 
selves to  enjoy  the  highest  results  of  the  Christian 
experience,  and  to  be  wholly  the  Lord's,  the 
question  must  soon  be  settled,  whether  we  love 
God  as  a  means  of  our  happiness,  or  for  his  own 
sake.  If  we  can  be  satisfied  with  nothing  but  the 
intoxication  of  emotion,  we  give  him  an  altogether 
secondary  place  in  our  affections ;  we  make  him 
only  a  means  of  our  enjoyment,  instead  of  sacri- 
ficing oiu'selves  to  him.  Such  a  soul  has  not  fully 
lost  itself  in  God.  We  should  aim  to  realize  what 
was  called  by  Archbishop  Fenelon  a  state  of 
pure  love  —  a  disinterested  love,  a  love  of  order ^ 
of  absolute  beauty,  and  perfection,  superior  to  every 
agreeable    sensation,    and    which    can    act    in    the 


PAEADISE     RilSXORKD.  133 

absence  of  all  the  sensible  pleasures  and  consola- 
tions of  grace.  Tlie  soul,  at  sucb  a  time,  may  have 
no  feeling,  no  happy  emotion,  on  which  its  faith 
may  lean.  Yet  it  still  holds  to  God,  and  loves 
him  for  his  own  sake  above  all  his  gifts.  It  is 
conscious,  in  its  profoundest  depths,  of  a  refined 
satisfaction  with  God  and  complacency  in  him. 
The  love  that  exists  in  such  a  state  of  naked  faith 
is  the  purest  form  of  Christian  love.  It  has  less 
of  self  in  it.  The  finite  recedes,  and  the  Infinite 
fills  the  afi'ections.  It  is  as  pure  as  the  breeze 
that  fans  an  angel's  brow.  It  may  not  be  an 
emotion.  It  is  deeper  than  an  emotion.  We  arc 
told  that  there  are  depths  of  the  ocean  where  the 
plummet  sinks  below  all  the  currents  and  disturb- 
ances of  the  surface,  and  where  eternal  stillness 
reigns.  So  of  the  soul  in  this  state  of  naked  faith 
and  pure  love.  It  is  an  angelic  flame,  still  and 
silent  as  the  unfathomed  depth  of  the  sea.  A  stat^ 
of  naked  faith,  or  what  some  writers  on  inward 
experience  denominate  the  wilderness  state,  is  a 
most  beneficial  mental  condition,  if  the  spirit  does 
not  falter,  and  if  the  will  holds  the  soul,  emptied 
of  all  desires  and  emotions,  in  the  presence  of  God. 
12 


134  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

We  should  not  be  seized  with  a  panic,  nor  struggle 
to  work  ourselves  into  an  emotional  frame.  If  the 
enemy  insultingly  asks,  Where  is  now  thy  God  ? 
stand  like  Christ  before  the  bar  of  Pilate  in  tri- 
umphant silence  ;  or,  if  you  speak,  let  praise  flow 
from  your  lips  like  melody  from  the  string.  Alas, 
how  many  stumble  and  fall  when  the  divine  Shep- 
herd leads  them  into  the  desert,  to  wean  them 
from  themselves  and  the  world,  and  purge  from  the 
soul  all  its  sensuous  and  earthy  images  !  This  is 
the  crisis  in  the  experience  of  the  hidden  life.  It 
is  a  spiritual  Rubicon.  If  we  cross  it,  victory 
and  empire  await  us  in  the  future. 

After  Christ  had  been  in  the  wilderness  without 
bread  for  forty  days,  "  his  soul  was  an  hungered." 
So  we  must  remain  in  the  desert  until  our  crav- 
ing for  God  shall  become  so  intense,  that,  over- 
looking all  his  gifts,  we  shall  ask  only  for 
himself. 

The  poverty  of  Christ,  his  looseness  from  the 
world  and  the  things  of  earth,  must  be  repro- 
duced by  the  disciple.  The  Son  of  Man  had  not 
where  to  lay  his  head.  The  follower  of  Jesus 
must    pass    through    a    similar    state.      Though    in 


PARAUISJi     11  EST  Oil  ED.  135 

the  midst  of  wealth  and  honors,  he  must  experi- 
ence their  emptiness  and  vanity,  and  divest  his 
heart  of  the  love  of  them.  He  must  inwardly  for- 
sake all,  and  emptied  of  the  creatures,  which  can 
never  satisfy  the  yearnings  of  his  higher  nature, 
the  abyss  of  the  soul  must  echo  with  the  cry  for 
the  supreme  Good.  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in 
spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Gen- 
uine Christ-like  poverty  is  more  an  inward  than 
an  outward  condition.  Some  have  erred  here.  In 
the  age  of  Constantine,  when,  with  all  the  means 
at  the  disposal  of  a  despotic  prince,  he  heaped 
riches  and  honors  upon  the  church,  a  strange  en- 
thusiasm seized  a  portion  of  the  Christian  mind  of 
the  times  to  reproduce  the  unworldly  spirit  and 
poverty  of  Christ.  This  vast  movement  of  the 
Christian  spirit  had  its  uses  in  the  scheme  of  the 
Messiah's  providence,  in  counteracting  the  worldly 
tendency  of  the  church ;  yet  there  was  an  error 
at  bottom.  It  is  not  so  much  the  outward  form 
of  the  Redeemer's  poverty,  as  his  poverty  of 
spirit,  that  is  to  be  experienced  by  his  follow- 
ers. Monachism  erred  in  fleeing  to  the  sol- 
itudes   of    the    desert    in    order    to    reproduce    the 


136  THE     HATPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

poverty   of  Christ.      It    may  be    experienced    on    a 
throne. 

The  Divinity,  as  he  appeared  in  Christ,  assumed 
the  form  of  a  servant,  and  performed  the  most 
menial  offices,  even  washing  the  feet  of  the  dis- 
ciples. He  hints  to  his  followers  that  they  should 
imitate  his  servant  form,  especially  in  its  inward 
spirit,  when  he  says,  on  laying  aside  the  towel 
with  which  he  was  girded,  "  What  I  do  ye  know 
not  now,  but  ye  shall  know  hereafter."  This  state 
must  be  experienced.  This  state  of  condescending 
love  must  be  a  permanent  one,  and  coeval  with 
the  whole  Christian  life.  It  appears  in  the  very 
first  breathings  of  the  new  Christian  spirit  —  a 
spirit  of  love,  a  desire  to  call  down  upon  the  head 
of  every  living  being  the  blessing  of  God,  and  to 
wring  out  to  every  soul  of  man  a  full  cup  of 
blessedness. 

"  0  that  the  world  might  taste  and  see 
The  riches  of  his  grace ! 
The  arms  of  love  that  compass  me 
Would  all  mankind  embrace." 

For  the  perfection  of  the  human  spirit,  and  its 
perfect  discipline  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  life  eter- 


PAKADISE     KESXOKED.  137 

nal,  it  must  be  a  partaker  of  all  the  different 
states  of  Christ.  In  the  light  of  this  truth,  how 
beautifully  appears  his  promise  to  his  disciples  just 
before  his  departure  from  the  world !  — "  Peace  I 
leave  with  you ;  my  peace  I  give  unto  you.  Not 
as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you."  That  is, 
this  is  not  a  mere  empty  form  of  valediction,  or 
farewell,  like  the  customary  adieu,  or  good  by,  but 
a  real  inward  peace  and  solid  repose,  a  reproduc- 
tion in  your  soul  of  the  calm  tranquillity  and  di- 
vine serenity  of  my  own  heart.  The  joy  of  Cbrist 
is  also  to  be  experienced  by  the  disciple.  "  These 
things  I  speak  in  the  world,  that  they  might  have 
my  joy  fulfilled  in  themselves."  (John  xvii.  13.) 
In  another  place  he  says,  "  These  things  have  I 
spoken  unto  you,  that  my  joy  might  remain  in 
you,  and  that  your  joy  might  be  full."  (John 
XV.    11.) 

"We  are  now  prepared  to  see  that  the  disciple 
who  gives  himself  up  to  follow  the  Master  whith- 
ersoever he  goeth,  must  sooner  or  later  be  crucified 
with  Christ,  or  share  the  agony  of  the  final  hour 
of  Jesus.  He  must  not  only  ride  with  him  in 
triumph  into  Jerusalem,  and  share  the  glory  of  the 
12^^ 


138  THE     HAPPY     ISIiANDS,     Oil 

theocratic  king,  but  must  sympathize  with  his 
atoning  death  struggle.  This  is  necessary  in  order 
to  rise  into  the  highest  degree  of  Christian  life. 
He  must  bear  about  in  his  body  the  dying  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  in  order  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus 
may  be  made  manifest  in  our  mortal  flesh.  It  was 
not  the  thorns,  not  the  nails,  nor  the  unfeeling 
scoffs  of  a  heartless  mob,  that  made  up  the  sum 
of  his  sufferings  in  the  final  hour.  These  were 
but  a  drop  in  his  sad  cup.  It  was  the  withdrawal 
of  the  conscious  presence  of  his  Father.  "  This 
was  the  finishing  stroke  of  the  hand  of  God  that 
smote  that  Man  of  Sorrows.  This  was  what  con- 
summated the  sacrifice."  It  was  this  that  extorted 
the  exclamation,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
thou  forsaken  me  r  Why  art  thou  so  far  from 
helping  me,  and  from  the  words  of  my  roaring  ? " 
(Ps.  xxii.  I.)  So  the  believer  must  pass  through 
a  state  of  internal  anguish,  obscurity,  and  apparent 
abandonment  of  God.  We  must  taste  something 
of  the  deep  soul-agony  of  Gethsemane  and  Calvary. 
We  shall  experience  a  withdrawal  of  all  sensible 
divine  comfort,  and  the  soul  must  be  thrown  ujion 
its   own   resources.     This    is    the    severest    trial    of 


PAKADISE     RESTORED.  139 

the  whole  Christian  life.  To  rejoice  that  we  are 
made  partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings  is  the  hardest 
lesson  a  Christian  has  to  learn  in  the  school  of 
Christ ;  yet  it  may  be  learned  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 
Says  Kempis,  "  It  requires  no  considerable  effort 
to  despise  human  consolation,  when  we  are  pos- 
sessed of  divine.  But  it  is  transcendent  greatness 
to  bear  the  want  of  both,  and  without  self-condo- 
lence, or  the  least  retrospection  on  our  own  imagi- 
nary worth,  patiently  to  suffer  desolation  of  heart 
for  the  glory  of  God."  {Imitation  of  Christ,  p.  94.) 
This  is  a  kind  of  spiritual  martyrdom,  an  inward 
crucifixion.  It  is  preeminently  referred  to  in  Rom. 
viii.  17,  where  we  are  said  to  be  heirs  of  God, 
and  joint  heirs  with  Christ,  if  so  be  that  we  suffer 
with  him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  together. 
Happy  the  man  whose  desolate  spirit,  while  pass- 
ing through  those  deaths  and  hells  that  sometimes 
accompany  the  birth  of  the  soul  into  a  higher 
stage  of  life,  can  say,  "  Though  he  slay  me,  yet 
will  I  trust  in  him."  Like  as  Christ  entered  into 
rest  through  the  suffering  of  death,  so  the  soul 
that  thus  trusts  God  in  this  gloomy  hour  will  re- 
joice   to    find    that    by    subduing    his    earthly   and 


140  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OB 

selfish  nature,  it  yields  to  him  a  rich  harvest  of 
divine  peace. 

During  this  day  of  darkness  at  the  Happy  Isl- 
ands, there  was  a  complete  harmony  between  the 
outward  world  and  the  world  within.  This  I 
found  was  always  the  case  during  my  stay  in  the 
country.  When  God  withdraws  his  conscious  pres- 
ence, nature  is  clothed  in  gloom.  Nothing  can 
cheer  the  soul,  not  even  the  smiles  of  angels.  I 
could  say  with  David,  "  Thou  didst  hide  thy  face, 
and  I  was  troubled."  (Ps.  xxx.  7.)  Yet  my  soul 
could  say  with  confidence,  as  it  turned  its  im- 
ploring gaze  upward  to  Him 

"Whose  throne  is  darkness  in  the  abyss  of  light, 
A  flood  of  glory  which  forbids  the  sight,"  — 

"  Thou  wilt  light  my  candle ;  the  Lord  my  God 
will  enlighten  my  darkness."  (Ps.  xviii.  28.) 
Though  the  earth  was  without  form  and  void,  and 
darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  yet  I  re- 
joiced to  know  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  moving 
upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  I  patiently  waited 
the  time  when  the  creative  word  should  go  forth. 
Let   there    be    light,    and     then    light    would    flash 


TARADISE     RESTOBED,  141 

amid  the  chaos.  The  spirit  felt,  as  never  before, 
that  God  was  its  supreme  good.  In  this  temporary 
removal  of  his  manifested  presence,  it  saw  how 
necessary  he  was  to  its  rest.  His  gifts  would  not 
suffice.  The  last  tie  that  bound  the  heart  to  earthly 
and  finite  good  was  broken.  I  was  dead,  and  my 
life  was  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  It  was  ever 
deemed  the  best  day  of  my  religious  history.  It 
demonstrated  the  strength  of  my  love.  At  a  time 
when  it  has  appeared  to  others  that  they  did  not 
love  God  at  all,  because  of  the  absence  of  the 
emotion  of  love,  and  of  the  sensible  presence  of 
God,  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  never  loved  him  so 
much.  Love  never  shows  itself  so  strong  as  when 
called  upon  to  separate  from  its  adored  object. 
In  this  apparent  departure  of  God  from  the  soul, 
its  very  misery  arises  from  the  strength  of  its  love 
If  it  does  not  love  God,  why  this  all-absorbing 
desire  for  his  return  ?  Why  this  intense  longing 
to  be  with  him,  so  that  we  can  say,  "  My  soul 
longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the  courts  of  the 
Lord.  "When  shall  I  come  and  appear  before 
God  ?  "  "Why  does  the  fond  spirit  say  to  Him  it 
adores,  when  fearing  his  absence,  — 


142  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

"  Stay,  my  beloved,  with  me  here ; 
Stay  till  the  morning  star  appear; 
Stay  till  the  dusky  shadows  fly 
Before  the  day's  illustrious  eye." 

The  heart  of  the  wicked  says,  in  its  want  of 
affinity  for  God,  and  its  instinctive  repugnance  to 
the  divine,  "•  Depart  from  me,  for  I  desire  not  the 
knowledge  of  thy  ways."  The  repulsion  between 
a  depraved  nature  and  the  Holy  One  led  the  de- 
moniac of  Gadara  to  say,  "  What  have  I  to  do 
with  thee,  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  God."  But  the 
spouse,  in  the  absence  of  him  whom  her  soul  loved 
could  say,  "  I  will  arise  now,  and  go  about  the 
city,  and  in  the  broad  ways ;  I  will  seek  him  whom 
my  soul  loveth."  In  withdrawing  from  the  soul 
his  conscious  presence,  and  bringing  it  into  the 
shadow  of  death,  God  aims  both  to  test  the 
strength  of  its  love,  and  to  increase  it.  Blessed 
is  that  heart  which  has  learned  this  truth,  and  can 
distinguish  between  pleasurable  emotions  and  God, 
between  a  peace  which  is  the  gift  of  God  and  the 
God  of  peace.  That  day  brought  the  soul  into  a 
more  intimate  union  with  its  divine  Centre.  From 
that  era  the  veil  that  separated  my  spirit  from  the 
Deity     became     exceedingly    transparent,    and     the 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  143 

Invisible  appeared  in  sight.  Darin;?  this  horror  of 
great  darkness  that  settled  like  a  curtain  of  sack- 
cloth over  the  land,  there  were  occasionally  flashes 
of  light.  Sometimes  a  promise  broke  through  the 
gloom,  like  a  star  looking  from,  behind  a  midnight 
cloud.  This  passage  flashed  out  upon  the  dark- 
ened heavens  —  "There  is  but  a  moment  in  his 
anger ;  in  his  favor  is  life ;  weeping  may  endure 
for  a  night,  but  joy  cometh  in  the  morning." 
(Ps.  XXX.  5.)  These  gleams  of  light  became  in- 
creasingly frequent,  until  a  whole  constellation  of 
divine  promises  was  hung  out  in  the  heavens  by 
the  hand  of  God,  as  darkness  shows  us  worlds  of 
light  we  never  saw  by  day.  At  length  the  dismal 
curtain  over  the  heavens  exhibited  numerous  rents. 
The  celestial  light  leaked  through.  The  gloomy 
funereal  pall  was  lifted  at  last  from  the  western 
horizon,  and  the  divine  Artist  painted  on  the  black 
canvas  the  bow  of  many  colors,  the  sign  of  the 
covenant,  and  the  symbol  of  peace.  So  glorious 
a  sunset  my  eyes  never  beheld. 

"Confusion  hears  his  voice,  and  wild  uproar 
Stands  ruled,  and  at  his  bidding,  darkness  flies, 
Light  shines,  ai;d  order  from  disorder  springs." 


144  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OE 

The  night  following  was  one  of  unusual  hril- 
liahcy.  The  Aurora  marched  across  the  Heavens. 
The  moon  serenely  floated  in  the  pure  ether.  The 
heavens  proclaimed  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  earth 
seemed  full  of  his  riches.  The  transition  from 
such  a  night  to  the  following  day  was  hardly  per- 
ceptible. Above  the  melody  of  the  spheres  there 
came  a  voice  to  the  soul,  —  God  is  all. 

"  There's  not  a  tint  that  paints  the  rose, 
Or  decks  the  lily  fair, 
Or  streaks  the  humblest  flower  that  grows. 
But  Heaven  has  placed  it  there. 

There's  not  of  grass  a  single  blade, 

Or  leaf  of  lowliest  mien, 
Where  heavenly  skill  is  not  displayed, 

And  heavenly  wisdom  seen. 

There's  not  a  cloud  whose  dews  distil 

Upon  the  parched  clod, 
And  clothe  with  verdure  vale  and  hill, 

That  is  not  sent  by  God. 

There's  not  a  star  whose  twinkling  light 

Illumes  the  distant  earth, 
And  cheers  the  solemn  gloom  of  night, 

But  Heaven  gave  it  birth. 

There's  not  a  place  in  earth's  vast  round. 
In  ocean's  depths,  or  air. 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  145 

Where  skill  and  wisdom  are  not  found, 
For  God  is  every  where. 

Around,  beneath,  below,  above, 

Wherever  space  extends, 
There  heaven  displays  its  boundless  love, 

And  power  with  goodness  blends." 

13 


146  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OB. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   ISLAND   OF  EUPKROSYNE. 

The  Scenery.  —  Tlie  Appearance  of  the  outtcard  World  de- 
pends t(pon  the  State  of  the  Soid.  —  Effect  of  Melanchohj.  — 
Peace,  Joy,  Purity.  —  The  Art  of  being  always  happy,  — 
Ceaseless  Praise.  —  Rejoicing  in  the  Lord.  —  The  Desert 
becomes  a  fruitful  Field.  —  The  Valley  of  Baca  filled  icith 
Pools. —  The  Triumph  of  Ilabakkuk. — A  Plant  which 
symbolizes  such  a  State.  —  St.  Paul.  —  The  Mcnint  of  Pu- 
rity. —  Perennial  Springs.  —  Enrapt%iring  View  from  the 
Summit.  —  What  a  Mountain  symbolizes.  —  Effect  of  the 
View  upon  the  Soul.  —  Quotation  frotti  Baxter. 

IIARLY  IN  the  morning  after  the  dark  day,  I 
-^  crossed  over  to  the  Island  Euphrosyne.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  delightful  of  the  whole  group 
—  a  land  of  joy,  favored  with  God's  peculiar  smile. 
The  morning  was  clear  and  bright.  Birds  of  sweet- 
est song  filled  the  skies  with  their  melody.  A 
thousand  varieties  of  flowers,  scattered  over  the 
meadows    and   pastures,    flung    their   odors    to    the 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  147 

passing  breezes,  and  perfumed  the  whole  land. 
Beds  of  violets,  hedges  of  fresh-blown  roses,  clus- 
ters of  orange  trees  in  blossom,  were  seen  beside 
the  roads,  and  on  the  banks  of  brooks  that  flowed 
joyfully  along.  These  beautiful  rivulets,  rolling 
musically  over  their  pebbly  beds,  flowed  by  cot- 
tages, and  through  neat  and  highly  cultivated  gar- 
dens, and  sometimes  under  triumphal  arches  of 
flowering  vines.  Here  I  saw  the  lambs  in  their 
innocent  gambols  around  the  kind  shepherd.  The 
shouts  of  happy  childhood  greeted  the  ear ;  the 
winds  sported  with  the  leaf,  and  the  sunbeams 
glittered  in  the  de \v drops.  Above  all  was  heard, 
in  every  direction,  songs  of  praise  which  ascended 
from  a  thousand  hearts,  for  it  was  the  hour  of 
morning  prayer.  All  the  joyful  voices  of  nature, 
and  the  music  of  human  voices  which  were  min- 
gled together,  did  not  sound  like  boisterous  mirth. 
The  whole  was  chastened  and  hallowed  by  the 
presence  of  God,  which  brooded  over  the  scene. 
These  appearances  of  the  outward  world  seemed  to 
be  the  pulsations  of  God's  infinit-^  heart  of  joy. 
It  was  the  bliss  of  the  divine  Mind,  overflowing 
in  cheerful  creations  of  his  hand.     Every  thing  has 


148  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

a    charm    to    the    holy    soul,    if   it    sees   a   present 
Deity  in  it. 

"It  is  his  presence  that  diffuses  charms 
Unspeakable,  o'er  mountain,  wood,  and  stream. 
To  think  that  He,  who  hears  the  heavenly  choirs, 
Hearkens  complacent  to  the  woodland  song; 
To  think  that  He,  who  rolls  yon  solar  sphere, 
Uplifts  the  warbling  songster  to  the  sky ; 
To  mark  his  presence  in  the  mighty  bow 
That  spans  the  clouds  as  in  the  tints  minute 
Of  tiniest  flower ;  to  hear  his  awful  voice 
In  thunder  speak,  and  whisper  in  the  gale ; 
To  know  and  feel  his  care  for  all  that  lives ; 
'Tis  this  that  makes  the  barren  waste  appear 
A  fruitful  field,  each  grove  a  paradise !  " 

In  this  island  were  forests  of  trees  whose  leaf 
never  withered.  The  hills  were  clothed  in  unfad- 
ing green.  The  tall,  graceful  palm  was  found  in 
abundance,  which  gave  to  the  scenery  an  air  of 
perpetual  triumph.  This  majestic  tree  has  some 
peculiarities  which  fit  it  for  its  symbolical  use  as 
the  emblem  of  victory  and  joy.  Plutarch  tells  us 
that  it  was  its  natural  property  to  rise  up  against 
pressure,  so  that  it  flourished  in  proportion  to  the 
weights  attached  to  it  to  depress  it.  It  retains 
also  its  youthful  vigor  to  an  extreme  age,  so  that 
the   ancients    accounted   it  immortal,  or  at  least,  if 


PAKADISE     RESTORED.  149 

it  did  die,  it  recovered  again,  and  obtained  a 
second  life  by  renewal.  It,  moreover,  belongs 
to  the  class  of  plants  that  do  not  grow  from  ex- 
ternal accretions,  but  from  internal  additions.  It 
grows  from  the  centre  outwards.  With  what  pro- 
priety does  the  Psalmist  say,  "  The  righteous  shall 
flourish  as  the  palm  tree."  (Ps.  xciii.  12.)  There 
were  other  trees  on  the  island,  but  this  was  the 
prevailing  one,  and  gave  character  to  the  scenery. 
There  they  stood  upon  the  plain,  waving  their 
plume-like  crown  of  leaves  before  the  breeze. 
You  seemed  to  stand  amid  a  forest  of  triumphal 
columns.  The  myrtle  was  also  found  in  abun- 
dance beneath  the  majestic  palms.  It  is  a  tender 
and  lowly  shrub,  and  "•  much  resembles  the  saints." 
It  is  full  of  fragrance,  an  incense  worthy  of  Para- 
dise ;  it  is  an  evergreen,  as  it  never  withers,  sum- 
mer or  winter.  I  observed  also  the  sacred  banyan, 
beneath  whose  inviting  shade  thousands  could  as- 
semble for  prayer  and  praise.  It  stood  in  the 
centre  of  a  pviblic  garden,  as  a  temple  built  by  an 
invisible  hand,  for  a  spiritual  worship.  It  had  a 
charm  for  the  holy  soul  above  that  of  Solomon's,  flam- 
ing in  gold.  For  ages  the  noiseless  fabric  had  grown, 
13 -'^ 


150  IKE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

"  a  pillared  shade, 
High  overarched,  and  echoing  walks  between." 

It  was  in  such  a  cathedral  that  our  first  parents 
adored  a  present  Deity.  How  sweet  to  walk  in 
such  a  sanctuary  when  the  firmament  glitters  like 
a  dome  of  pearls,  and  the  rays  of  the  peaceful 
moon  struggle  through  the  branches,  and  fall  quiv- 
ering upon  the  grass  beneath  !  In  such  an  hour 
the  soul  may  mingle  with  the  universe,  and  feel 
as  angels  feel. 

The  appearance  of  the  external  world  depends 
much  upon  the  state  of  the  soul.  If  melancholy 
brood  over  the  mind,  like  a  dark  cloud  enveloping 
the  summit  of  a  mountain,  all  nature  appears  in  a 
gloomy  aspect.  It  spreads  a  pall  of  darkness  over 
the  world.  Its  presence  in  the  soul  saddens  the 
fair  scene  without,  darkens  the  tiiits  of  nature's 
coloring,  shades  the  flowers,  and  deepens  the  mu- 
sic of  the  winds  and  the  waterfalls,  and  all  the 
sweet  voices  of  nature,  into  dirge-like  strains.  If 
the  state  of  the  soul  be  that  of  profound  and  un- 
utterable peace,  it  throws  over  the  objective  world 
the  mellow  morning  light  of  its  own  tranquillity. 
If  the  heart  be  joyful,  it  throws  its  sunshine  upon 


PAKADISE     KESTOllED.  151 

every  thing  without.  It  gilds  tlie  external  scene 
with  the  beams  of  its  own  delight.  So  to  the 
pure  every  thing  is  pure.  The  holy  man  walks 
through  society  like  a  sunbeam  through  an  infected 
hospital,  uncontaminated  by  the  touch.  God  is 
every  where,  and  nature  is  decked  with  a  white 
robe  of  seraphic  purity.  But  to  the  impure  heart 
all  nature  is  full  of  uncleanness.  It  can  see  noth- 
ing but  the  images  of  its  own  sensuality.  The 
outward  world  shapes  itself  to  the  various  mental 
states  of  men.  When  the  image  of  God  is  fully 
restored  to  our  fallen  nature,  and  the  soul  looks 
out  upon  the  external  creation  through  a  pure 
medium,  then  a  Paradise  blooms  in  every  spot. 
The  grand  and  the  beautiful,  which  every  where 
exist,  become  the  symbolization  of  moral  and 
spiritual  qualities,  and  of  celestial  realities,  and 
the  New  Jerusalem  comes  down  from  God  out  of 
heaven,  adorned  as  a  bride  for  her  husband.  When 
we  reach  a  position  of  Christian  experience  en- 
joined in  the  command,  "  Rejoice  evermore,"  all 
nature  becomes  vocal  with  praise.  In  the  language 
of  Mrs.   Opie, 


152  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS.     OR 

"  There  seems  a  voice  in  every  gale, 

A  tongue  in  every  flower, 
Which  tells,  O  Lord,  the  -wondrous  tale 

Of  thy  almighty  power ; 
The  birds,  that  rise  on  quivering  wing, 

Proclaim  their  Maker's  praise, 
And  all  the  mingling  sounds  of  spring 

To  thee  an  anthem  raise. 

Shall  I  be  mute,  great  God,  alone, 

'Midst  nature's  loud  acclaim  ? 
Shall  not  my  heart,  with  answering  tone. 

Breathe  forth  thy  holy  name  ? 
All  nature's  debt  is  small  to  mine  ; 

Nature  shall  cease  to  be ; 
Thou  gavest  —  proof  of  love  divine  — 

Immortal  life  to  me." 

At  such  a  time  the  soul  calls  upon  the  outward 
world  to  join  its  anthem  of  praise,  and  is  obeyed. 
Its  language  is,  "  Praise  the  Lord  from  the  earth, 
ye  dragons,  and  all  deeps  ;  fire  and  hail ;  snow 
and  vapor ;  stormy  winds  fulfilling  his  word  ; 
mountains  and  all  hills  ;  fruitful  trees  and  all  ce- 
dars ;  beasts  and  all  cattle ;  kings  of  the  earth 
and  all  people ;  princes  and  all  judges  of  the 
earth ;  both  young  men  and  maidens  ;  old  men 
and  children  :  let  them  praise  the  name  of  the 
Lord  ;   for  his  name  alone  is  excellent,  his  glory  is 


PAKAWISE     llESTOKED.  153 

above  earth  and  heaven."  (Ps.  cxlviii.  7-13.)  Thus 
the  harmony  between  what  we  call  nature,  and  the 
soul,  is  restored.  God  is  seen  and  praised  every- 
where. Man  becomes  the  high  priest  of  nature  to 
direct  its  worship ;  and  the  inanimate  world  coop- 
erates with  the  soul  to  reveal  and  glorify  God ; 
and  the  redeemed  spirit  is  restored  to  its  true 
position,  at  the  head  of  all  his  works. 

In  the  Happy  Islands  melancholy  could  find  no 
home,  though  before  reaching  this  restored  Para- 
dise, it  sometimes  haunts  the  soul  like  a  spectre, 
and  cleaves  to  it  like  the  poisoned  tunic  of 
Nessus,  and  cannot  be  shaken  off.  The  sense 
of  loneliness  is  gone.  The  soul,  united  to  God, 
the  spring  of  all  its  joy,  finds  companionshijj  in 
the  pathless  woods,  and  divine  society  iipon  the 
most  lonely  shore.  In  the  midst  of  a  desert  at 
midnight,  it  feels  a  rapture  inexpressible,  and 
hears,  in  its  deep  silence,  the  voice  of  God.  It 
can  say,  in  the  most  unbroken  solitude,  where 
none  intrudes,  "  I  am  not  alone,  for  the  Father  is 
with  me."  In  the  Ishind  of  Euphrosyne  melan- 
choly never  shaded  the  fair  creations  of  the  divine 
hand    with    her    gloomy    mantle.      Here    the    sweet 


154  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

music  of  nature  was  never  changed  to  the  deso- 
lating howl  of  despair.  The  redeemed  spirit,  re- 
stored to  fellowship  with  God,  roamed  over  the 
beautiful  hills,  and  through  the  delightful  valleys, 
and  along  the  gravelled  borders  of  still  and  trans- 
parent lakes,  in  communion  with  the  Holy  One, 
and  in  companionship  with  the  wise  and  holy. 
Such  was  the  spirit's  recovery  of  its  lost  purity, 
that  it  caused  Nature  to  unfold  all  her  charms, 
and  the  soul  revelled  in  divine  delights.  Here 
stood  the  majestic  oak,  the  lofty  and  graceful 
palm,  the  deep,  embowering  elms,  and  dark-green 
firs,  and  beneath  them  were  interspersed  almond 
trees,  pomegranates,  and  vines ;  and  all  glowed 
with  the  presence  of  Divinity. 

There  was  one  thing  observable  in  the  moral 
condition  of  the  people  of  the  Happy  Islands, 
v.hich  seemed  to  make  their  state  superior  to  that 
of  the  original  Paradise.  They  had  learned  the 
art  of  being  always  happy,  even  at  times  when  it 
would  seem  impossible  for  human  nature  to  rejoice. 
They  had  learned  one  thing  which  our  first  parents 
did  not  acquire  in  Eden.  From  the  lofty  moral 
position  to  which  abounding  grace  had  raised  them, 


PARADISE     RESTOKED.  155 

they  could  say,  "  Being  justified  by  faith,  we 
have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  ;  by  whom  also  we  have  access  into  that 
grace  wherein  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the 
glory  of  God.  And  not  only  so,  but  we  glory  in 
tribulations  also."  (Rom.  v.  1-3.)  It  Avould  seem 
but  a  small  thing  for  our  first  parents,  removed 
from  all  evil,  as  they  were,  to  rejoice.  But  how 
it  magnifies  the  grace  of  God,  and  renders  illus- 
trious the  soul's  redemption,  when  we  rise  above 
all  life's  evils,  and  joy  in  the  God  of  our  salva- 
tion !  This  was  a  higher  position  than  was  occu- 
pied by  Adam  in  Paradise. 

The  more  holy  a  soul  becomes,  the  more  it  will 
be  inclined  to  the  noble  work  of  praise.  As  its 
redemption  advances,  thanksgiving  will  become 
more  and  more  blended  with  its  supplications, 
until,  as  it  nears  the  celestial  state,  there  will  be 
a  transition  from  special  supplications  to  unceas- 
ing praise  and  perpetual  jubilation.  The  soul 
catches  the  inspiration  of  the  heavenly  choirs, 
just  as  rivers,  when  they  approach  the  ocean, 
begin  to  partake  of  the  qualities  and  attributes  of 
the  great  deep.     Before    a    soul    is    fitted    fully  for 


156  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

the  celestial  state,  it  must  learn  to  rejoice  in  the 
Lord,  independently  of  all  temporal  things.  It 
must  find  its  bliss  in  God,  and  triumph  in  him 
alone ;  for  it  will  soon  be  removed  from  all  the 
things  of  sense,  from  all  temporal  conditions.  If 
it  would  be  happy  then,  it  must  be  prepared  for 
this  abstraction  from  material  and  sensible  things. 
To  rejoice  in  the  midst  of  the  evils  that  assail 
us  in  a  probationary  state,  to  triumph  in  afRiction, 
and  to  take  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  our  earthly 
goods,  is  one  of  the  highest  preparatives  for  an 
immaterial  world,  or  a  purely  spiritual  condition. 
Affliction  of  some  kind  becomes  a  necessary  disci- 
pline for  a  heavenly  state  ;  it  serves  to  break  the 
strange  enchantment  that  binds  the  soul  to  earthly 
objects.  We  must  learn  to  say  with  David,  "  The 
Lord  is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  present  help  in 
time  of  trouble.  Therefore  will  not  we  fear,  though 
the  earth  be  removed,  and  though  the  mountains 
be  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  sea ;  though  the 
waters  thereof  roar  and  be  troubled,  though  the 
mountains  shake  with  the  swelling  thereof."  (Ps. 
xlvi.  1,  2.)  His  joy  was  wholly  independent  of 
earthly    changes.      It    was    not    based    upon    finite 


PAKADISE     RESTOEED.  157 

things.     He  was  too  firmly  anchored  in.  God  to  be 

dragged  from  his  moorings  by  the  revolutions  of 
time.  The  earth  itself  might  vanish  away,  like 
the  shadow  of  a  cloud  across  a  field,  yet  his  heart 
was  unmovably  fixed  upon  its  centre.  Such  a 
soul,  in  its  weanedness  from  the  earth,  and  its 
affinity  for  divine  enjoyments,  is  prepared  to  enter 
upon  the  higher  worship  of  the  skies,  and  to 
regale  itself  with  the  entertainment  of  angels. 
The  darker  the  night  of  trial,  the  sweeter  will  be 
the  song  of  the  spirit's  triumph  to  the  ear  of  God 
and  all  holy  beings,  just  as  music  has  a  diviner 
melody  when  its  strains  float  upon  the  midnight 
air.  Blessed  is  that  soul  which  has  found  God, 
its  Maker,  who  alone  givetb  songs  in  the  night. 
(Job  XXXV.  10.)  The  apostle  commands  us  to 
blend  thanksgiving  with  supplication,  when  he  en- 
joins us  to  "be  careful  for  nothing,  but  in  every 
thing,  by  prayer  and  supplication,  2vith  thanksgiv- 
ing, to  let  our  requests  be  made  known  unto 
God."  (Phil.  iv.  6.)  But  as  the  soul  advances, 
in  the  triumphant  progress  of  its  redemption,  to 
the  frontier  of  the  celestial  kingdom,  praise  be- 
comes the  predominant  element  of  prayer.  In 
14 


158  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

every  thing  it  gives  thanks.  Prayer  is  a  divine 
symphony  made  up  of  these  four  parts  —  thanks- 
giving, supplication,  confession,  and  intercession. 
But  in  the  holy  soul,  praise,  like  a  lofty  tenor, 
overpowers  all  the  other  parts,  and  is  heard  above 
their  more  feeble  strains.  "  O  for  a  gust  of  praise," 
said  the  dying  Fletcher,  "  to  fill  the  whole  world  !" 
In  the  Happy  Islands  a  ceaseless  flame  of  holy 
praise  and  spiritual  joy,  as  quenchless  as  the  fires 
of  heaven,  rose  to  God. 

In  this  island,  I  saw  delightfully  realized  and 
beautifully  exemplified  many  passages  of  Scripture, 
such  as  the  following  :  "  The  wilderness  and  soli- 
tary place  shall  be  glad  for  them,  and  the  desert 
shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  It  shall 
blossom  abundantly,  and  rejoice  even  with  joy  and 
singing.  The  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  be  given 
unto  it,  the  excellency  of  Carmel  and  Sharon ; 
they  shall  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  the  ex- 
cellency of  our  God.  And  the  ransomed  of  the 
Lord  shall  return  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads ;  they  shall 
obtain  joy  and  gladness,  and  sorrow  and  sighing 
shall  flee  away."    (Isa.  xxxv.  1,  2,  10.)     How  great 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  159 

the  triumphs  of  that  grace  which  can  make  a 
desert  rejoice,  and  the  most  desolate  Sahara  of 
earth  to  be  vocal  with  songs  of  praise  !  The 
Psahnist  also  presents  us  with  the  idea  of  the 
people  of  God  triumphing  over  the  ills  of  life,  and 
making  a  desert  as  a  fruitful  field.  "  Blessed  is 
the  man  whose  strength  is  in  thee ;  in  whose  heart 
are  the  ways  of  them,  who,  passing  through  the 
valley  of  Baca,  make  it  a  well ;  the  rain  also 
filleth  the  pools."  (Ps.  Ixiv.  5,  6.)  Baca  seems 
to  have  been  a  desolate  valley,  through  which  the 
tribes  of  Israel  passed  as  they  came  up  to  Jerusa- 
lem to  Avorship  at  the  great  national  festivals. 
How  happy  is  the  man,  says  the  Psalmist,  whose 
heart  is  invigorated  and  strengthened  by  thee, 
whose  joy  is  an  influx  of  the  bliss  of  the  infinite 
Mind,  derived  from  union  with  him,  who  travels 
the  roads  leading  to  Jerusalem  with  full  bent  of 
heart !  He  goes  through  the  valley  of  Baca,  or 
iceeping  valley,  as  it  may  be  rendered,  as  full  of 
joy  as  if  it  were  cheered  by  fountains  of  water, 
or  filled  with  delicious  ponds.  The  pilgrim  to  the 
heavenly  city  will  sometimes  find  his  path  leading 
through    a  valley  of   Baca,  a  region  where    earthly 


160  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

comforts  are  all  blasted  and  withered.  Happy  for 
him  if  the  comforts  of  God  so  delight  his  soul  as 
to  make  it  a  well  —  a  fountain  gushing  up  from 
the  life  eternal.  In  Hab.  iii.  17-19  we  see  the 
soul  rejoicing  in  the  absence  of  all  earthly  com- 
forts, and  cut  off  from  all  worldly  supports  and 
sources  of  joy.  "  Although  the  fig  tree  shall  not 
blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vines  ;  the 
labor  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall 
yield  no  meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the 
fold,  and  there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls ; 
yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the 
God  of  my  salvation.  The  Lord  God  is  my 
strength,  and  he  will  make  my  feet  like  hinds' 
feet,  and  he  will  make  me  to  walk  upon  my  high 
places."  That  which  a  person  loves  will  be  his 
delight.  His  delights  can  flow  from  no  other 
source  than  from  his  ruling  love,  the  love  in  which 
he  is  rooted  and  grounded.  That  which  we  love 
the  most,  will  appear  delightful.  It  will  be  our 
heaven,  which  is  only  our  idea  of  the  supreme 
good.  If  our  hearts  are  grounded  in  the  love  of 
the  world,  if  we  are  swamped  in  material  things, 
then    our    delight,    such    as    it    is,  will    be    derived 


PAEADISE     RESTORED.  161 

from  things  earthly  and  sensual.  If  we  are 
grounded  in  the  love  of  God,  and  of  heavenly- 
things,  we  shall  delight  ourselves  in  the  Lord,  and 
he  will  give  us  the  desire  of  our  hearts.  We  can 
then  say  in  the  language  of  the  prophet,  "  I  will 
rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  ray 
salvation."  In  the  absence  of  all  earthly  things, 
the  soul  still  finds  its  delight  in  the  unchanging 
and  eternal  Good,  because  its  delight  will  always 
he  according  to  the  nature  of  its  love.  In  the 
Island  of  Euphrosyne  there  grows  in  abundance  a 
species  of  tropical  plant  which  most  beautifully 
symbolizes  the  state  of  the  soul  above  described. 
It  belongs  to  an  order  of  plants  called  aerial  plants. 
At  first  it  strikes  its  roots  downward  into  the  soil, 
like  other  plants,  and  derives  from  the  earth  its 
appropriate  nourishment.  At  length  it  puts  forth 
tendrils,  which  fasten  upon  something  above  it, 
and  its  roots  quit  the  ground.  It  derives  no  more 
nourishment  from  the  earth.  All  its  support  is 
from  the  heavens  above.  Suspended  above  the 
earth,  it  puts  forth  leaves  and  flowers  which  fill 
all  the  adjacent  region  with  their  perfumes.  So  the 
soul,  in  its  hidden,  interior,  sanctified  life,  lives 
14-* 


162  I  HE     HAPPY     ISIiANDS,     OR 

and  flourishes  where  the  natural  man  could  not 
survive.  Cut  off  from  the  world  and  all  worldly 
supports,  and  suspended  by  faith  from  the  heavens, 
it  lives  all  the  happier,  for  it  sympathizes  with  the 
delights  of  angels.  It  fulfils  the  command  of  the 
apostle  —  "Rejoice  evermore;  in  every  thing  give 
thanks.  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  always;  and  again  I 
say,  Rejoice."  (1  Thess.  v.  16,  18.  Phil.  iv.  4.) 
He  declares  of  his  own  experience,  that  though  he 
was  sorrowful  he  was  always  rejoicing.  His  heart 
was  like  what  we  are  told  by  travellers  of  the 
Baltic  Sea,  in  which  there  are  two  currents,  an 
upper  and  an  under,  flowing  in  different  direc- 
tions. So  in  the  heart  of  the  apostle  Paul,  there 
might  be  grief  at  the  surface,  yet  in  its  profound- 
est  depths  there  was  a  hidden  under  current  of 
joy,  unaffected  by  any  surface  changes,  which  led 
him  at  all  times  to  praise  God,  both  for  what  he 
is  in  himself  and  for  his  wonderful  works  to  the 
children  of  men.  Here  was  no  constant  ecstasy 
of  joy,  but  a  perpetual  and  ineffable  satisfaction  in 
the  possession  of  God,  and  in  the  fact  that  his 
will  was  done.  A  perpetual  ecstasy  of  joy  does 
not   belong    to    this    earthly  stage    of   our    redemp- 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  163 

tion ;  it  can  be  found  only  on  the  celestial  plains, 
where  there  is  fulness  of  joy  and  pleasures  forev- 
ermore.  But  in  the  purified  heart  the  incense  of 
praise  continually  ascends.  It  does  not  value  God 
so  much  for  his  gifts  as  for  the  excellency  of  his 
nature.  Hence,  in  the  absence  of  all  comforts,  there 
remains  an  infinite  reason  for  praising  him.  "  By 
him,  therefore,  let  us  ofi'er  the  sacrifice  of  praise 
continually,  that  is,  the  fruit  of  our  lips,  giving 
thanks  to  his  name."  (Heb.  xiii.  15.)  At  times 
the  sanctified  heart,  which  is  made  the  temple  of 
an  indwelling  God,  is  caught  upward  to  walk  upon 
its  high  places,  and  gets  a  foregleam  of  celestial 
delights,  like  the  disciples  on  the  Mount  of  Trans- 
figuration, where  earth  and  heaven  met  and  blended. 
One  characteristic  feature  of  the  scenery  of  the 
island  of  which  we  are  speaking,  was  a  lofty  moun- 
tain, which  rose  from  its  centre.  For  a  great  dis- 
tance up  its  sides  it  was  cultivated,  and  vineyards 
and  gardens  were  seen  on  terraces  which  sur- 
rounded it,  and  which  appeared  like  wreaths  of 
verdure  encircling  it.  Its  summit  rose  to  a  vast 
height,  and  the  view  from  it  surpassed  any  thing 
in  the  world.     Scattered  along  upon  its  sides  were 


164  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

beautiful  mansions,  fit  to  be  tbe  residence  of  an- 
gels, adorned  with,  every  thing  that  could  gratify 
the  eye,  and  free  for  any  who  desired  to  oc- 
cupy them.  Numerous  perennial  springs,  clear  as 
crystal,  and  perfectly  pure,  guslied  from  its  base 
and  its  sides.  These  springs  were  always  of  the 
same  temperature  every  season  of  the  year ;  the 
quantity  of  water  was  always  the  same,  even  dur- 
ing the  longest  drought  of  summer.  The  springs, 
with  which  I  had  been  acquainted  in  other  parts 
of  the  world,  were  much  affected  by  the  changes 
in  the  atmosphere  or  seasons.  In  the  rainy  season 
they  were  full  to  overflowing  ;  during  the  drought 
of  summer,  when  they  were  most  needed,  they  were 
either  very  low  or  else  entirely  dry.  In  the  win- 
ter, instead  of  retaining  the  same  temperature  as 
in  summer,  they  were  usually  frozen  up.  These 
springs,  coming  deep  from  the  base  of  the  moun- 
tain, were  subject  to  no  such  variations.  The 
mountain  was  called  Pisgah,  which  signifies  in  the 
Hebrew  tongue  Purity,  or  it  was  sometimes  called 
the  Mount  of  Transfiguration.  The  people  of  the 
island  occasionally  ascended  to  its  summit.  This 
was  accomplished  by  no  violent  effort  or  hard  labor. 


PAKADISE     RESTORED.  165 

The  path  wound  round  the  mountain  so  that  the 
ascent  was  easy,  and  it  was  lined  on  either  side 
by  fragrant  shrubs  in  blossom.  Experience  had 
shown  that  when  a  person  attempted  to  force  him- 
self by  great  efforts,  such  as  running  and  leaping, 
he  never  gained  any  higher  elevation,  though  he 
worked  himself  into  an  intense  excitement.  The 
movement  of  my  body  reminded  me  of  the  motion 
of  the  gods  as  described  by  Homer.  It  was  nei- 
ther flying  nor  walking,  but  gliding.  I  moved 
along  rapidly,  gently,  and  with  ease.  On  reaching 
the  summit  there  was  found  a  level  space  of  many 
acres,  containing  a  Paradise,  or  pleasure  garden, 
filled  with  flowers  and  fruits  the  whole  year.  The 
walks  around  this  delightful  place  were  overhung 
with  hedges  of  pomegranate,  myrtle,  oleander,  and 
white  rose  in  blossom.  Sometimes  this  lavish  pro- 
fusion of  color  and  of  fragrance  met  overhead,  laced 
together  by  grape  vines  in  bloom.  The  rays  of 
the  sun  struggled  through  the  roof,  and,  painted 
with  the  hues  of  the  flowers,  fell  upon  the  grav- 
elled pavement,  which  glittered  like  pearls  and 
precious  gems.  How  difterent  was  this  from  the 
summit  of  many  other  lofty  mountains  which  I  had 


166  THE     HAPPV     ISLANDS,     OK 

visited !  Usually,  as  you  reach  their  tops,  you  find 
a  region  where  desolation  has  its  throne,  and  which 
appears  to  be  the  home  of  the  destroying  angel. 
You  often  enter  the  domain  of  everlasting  winter, 
where  tempests  forever  howl.  But  the  summit  of 
this  mountain  was  different.  Notwithstanding  its 
vast  elevation,  perpetual  spring  reigned,  I  stood 
far  above  the  clouds,  having  left  the  storms  and 
earthy  vapors  midway  below.  The  rays  of  the  sun 
never  fully  left  the  summit.  The  evening  twilight 
lingered  to  embrace  the  approaching  morn.  From 
this  sublime  elevation  the  soul  gained  a  view  of 
the  other  shore  of  the  ocean.  So  pure  was  the 
heavenly  ether,  that  it  seemed  to  be  near  at  hand. 
The  distant  hills  of  the  heavenly  Paradise,  where 
angels  drank  immortality  and  joy  from  the  smile 
of  a  present  God,  were  seen  radiant  with  celestial 
light.  Their  gilded  tops  were  never  veiled  with 
darkness.  I  gained  a  full  view  of  the  city  of  the 
great  King,  flaming  with  the  glory  of  God,  and 
saw  the  celestial  plains  where  the  redeemed  walk 
with  God,  "  high  in  salvation  and  the  climes  of 
bliss."  Here  the  soul  enjoyed  a  season  of  com- 
munion with    divine    things    that    was    unutterable. 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  167 

a  time  of  abstraction  from  tlie  things  of  sense, 
Avhen  the  spirit  was  taken  in  a  measure  behind 
the  veil,  and  celestial  light  broke  in  upon  it.  In 
such  an  hour,  the  soul  is  released  from  the  fetters 
of  its  material  inthralment,  and  the  scenes  of  Par- 
adise are  unfolded  to  the  partially  unveiled  spir- 
itual senses.  The  soul  is  closed  towards  earth  and 
opened  towards  heaven ;  the  world  and  all  its 
gilded  pageantry  disappears,  and  seraj^hic  pleasures 
and  ineffable  delights  flow  into  the  heart.  The 
divine  influence  falls  upon  it,  like  the  reviving  dew 
upon  a  withering  flower,  awaking  its  powers  to 
new  life  and  activity.  At  such  a  time,  as  Mr. 
Fletcher  has  observed,  the  soul  experiences  a  hap- 
piness so  intense  as  to  border  on  misery,  and  be 
almost  imendurable  ;  for  in  this  mortal  life  it  can 
but  poorly  bear  the  force  of  immortal  fires. 

There  is  a  certain  experience  of  heavenly  life 
and  bliss  which  is  symbolized  by  a  lofty  mountain. 
According  to  the  correspondence  which  subsists 
between  things  in  the  natural  world  and  the  spir- 
itual world,  mountains  signify  a  great  elevation  in 
the  moral  and  spiritual  condition  of  man,  an  ele- 
vation of  the  soul   above  the    common  level    of   its 


168  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

natural  action  to  a  higher  plane  of  spiritual  activ- 
ity and  enjoyment.  Hence  the  ancients,  who  appear 
to  have  understood  more  clearly  than  the  moderns 
the  science  of  correspondence,  built  their  places  of 
worship  on  hills  and  mountains,  which  are  called 
high  'places  in  the  Scriptures.  Hence  Moses  went 
up  into  a  mountain  to  receive  the  law  from  God, 
and  when  he  was  about  to  die,  he  ascended  to  the 
summit  of  Pisgah,  which  commanded  a  view  of  the 
promised  land.  All  this  has  its  symbolical  or 
spiritual  significance  as  well  as  its  literal  historical 
meaning.  When  Christ  would  unfold  the  deep 
spirituality  of  the  law  to  his  followers,  he  went  up 
into  a  mountain,  and  from  that  commanding  foot- 
hold he  delivered  to  the  multitude  the  sermon 
which  Matthew  has  recorded,  which  is  full  of  the 
loft)''  utterances  of  divine  wisdom,  and  in  which  he 
speaks  as  never  man  spake.  Hence,  when  the  dis- 
ciples were  to  have  a  glimpse  of  the  celestial  glory, 
and  have  their  spiritual  senses  so  far  uncovered  as 
to  discern  the  solid  realities  of  an  eternal  sphere, 
they  Avere  taken  by  Christ  into  a  high  mountain, 
apart  by  themselves,  where  he  was  transfigured 
before  them,  and   the    heavens    came    down   to  en- 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  169 

velop  the  earth  with  their  radiance,  and  deluge 
mortality  with  life.  Hence  John,  when  he  saw  the 
glories  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  heaven  empty- 
ing itself  into  earth,  was  transported  in  spirit,  not 
in  body,  to  a  great  and  high  mountain.  The 
prophet  Isaiah  declares  that  in  the  latter  days,  the 
Messianic  times,  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house, 
which  signifies  the  church,  shall  be  established  in 
the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  exalted  above  the 
hills  ;  that  is,  its  spiritual  condition  shall  be  greatly 
elevated ;  it  shall  ascend  to  a  higher  form  of  divine 
life.  It  shall  be  exalted  above  its  grovelling  earthly 
state,  and  come  into  closer  proximity  to  the  heav- 
ens. It  shall  live  a  heavenly  life  on  earth.  When 
the  time  predicted  by  the  prophet  shall  arrive,  that 
the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house,  or  the  church, 
shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains, 
it  will  be  an  illustrious  era  in  the  history  of  re- 
demption. The  church  will  enter  upon  the  epoch 
of  its  Xew  Jerusalem  stage  of  development.  Heaven 
and  earth  will  be  brought  into  closer  connections, 
and  the  spiritual  and  natural  worlds  will  come 
into  a  more  intimate  conjunction.  Then  we  shall 
see.  as  the  favored  disciples  did,  the  kingdom  of 
13 


170  THE     HAPPY     ISLAN^DS,     OR 

God  come  with  power,  and  that  extraordinary  vouch- 
safement  will  become  the  frequent  experience  of  the 
children  of  God.  At  present,  men,  and  even  the 
church,  arc  so  buried  in  the  things  of  sense,  and 
so  floundering  in  the  dismal  swamp  of  materialism 
and  Sadduceeism,  that  the  celestial  world  is  almost 
a  terra  incognita  —  an  unknown  land.  Instead  of 
being  in  living  sympathy  with  it,  it  is  viewed  at 
an  infinite  distance,  and  shadows,  clouds,  and  dark- 
ness rest  upon  it.  But  the  age  is  coming  when 
the  two  worlds  will  come  into  closer  proximity, 
when  faith  will  bring  near  the  substantial  realities 
of  another  sphere,  and  "  make  stirrings  of  deep 
divinity  within." 

Gladly  would  I  have  spent  all  my  days  in  the 
enjoyment  of  such  a  rapturous  vision  of  the  land 
of  the  blest.  I  experienced  what  Coleridge  so 
beautifully  describes. 

"  In  some  hour  of  solemn  jubilee, 
The  massy  gates  of  Paradise  are  thrown 
Wide  open,  and  forth  come,  in  fragments  wild, 
Sweet  echoes  of  unearthly  melodies, 
And  odors  snatched  from  beds  of  amaranth, 
And  they  that  from  the  crystal  river  of  life 
Spring  up  on  freshened  wing,  ambrosial  gales ! 


PAKADISE     KESTOKiiD.  171 

The  favored  good  man  in  his  lonely  walk 
Perceives  them,  and  his  silent  spirit  drinks 
Strange  bliss,  which  he  shall  recognize  in  heaven." 

It  was  not  thought  best  that  the  people  of  the 
Happy  Islands  should  be  all  the  time  on  the  sum- 
mit of  this  mountain.  It  was  enough  to  dwell  on 
the  plains  below,  at  the  base  of  the  mountain, 
among  the  perennial  springs.  The  view  from  the 
mountain  top  served  to  wean  the  soul  from  earth, 
as  did  also  the  dark  day  before  experienced.  Ever 
after  this,  the  soul  was  subjected  to  the  action  of 
two  moral  forces,  one  attracting  it  to  the  heavenly 
realms,  where  Christ  dwells,  the  other  a  desire  to 
live  in  order  to  bring  the  greatest  possible  number 
of  mankind  to  share  the  enjoyment  of  its  own  in- 
ward blessedness.  Some  of  the  sublimest  move- 
ments of  the  universe  are  produced  by  the  action 
of  two  opposite  forces,  the  body  so  situated  moving 
in  the  direction  of  neither,  but  in  a  ^diagonal  be- 
tween them.  The  planets  are  thus  moved  in  their 
orbits  around  their  proper  centres.  Thus  it  is  with 
the  pure  in  heart.  They  are  in  a  strait  betwixt 
two  opposite  moral  forces,  having  a  desire  to  de- 
part and  be  with  Christ,  which   is   far  better,  or,   as 


1 72  X  H  E     H  A  P  P  Y     ISLANDS,     OR 

Dr.  Doddridge  renders  the  original  term,  better 
beyond  all  comparison  and  expression,  and  a  Christ- 
like spirit  of  benevolence,  Avhich  sacrifices  itself  to 
save  others.  Between  these  forces  acting  in  oppo- 
site directions,  the  soul  either  remains  in  a  peaceful 
equilibrium,  or  moves  forward  in  the  straight  line 
of  duty,  which  is  a  diagonal  between  them. 

After  a  sufficient  length  of  time  had  been  spent 
in  the  enjoyment  of  the  mountain  view,  I  descended 
by  the  way  in  which  I  came  up.  The  people  of  the 
islands  are  permitted  to  go  to  the  summit  of  the 
mountain  after  some  long  inward  struggle  or  season 
of  internal  desolation,  or  to  j)repare  the  soul  to 
grapple  with  some  fiery  trial  that  awaits  it.  After 
this  view  of  the  heavenly  glory,  the  thoughts  and 
desires  rise  of  their  own  accord  to  things  above. 
The  home  centre,  w^hich  is  the  centre  of  the  affec- 
tions, is  thrown  beyond  earth  to  the  immortal 
shores,  and  the  soul  pines  for  its  celestial  country, 
and  longs  to  lose  itself  in  the  uncreated  fulness  of 
heavenly  bliss.  It  often  engages  in  "  the  soul- 
ravishing  exercise  of  heavenly  contemplation."  It 
is  transported  on  the  wings  of  faith  and  hope  to 
the   heavenly    sphere,    and    bathes    its    powers    in 


PARADISE     RESXORJiD.  17o 

uncreated  light.  Such  a  person  is  well  described 
by  Mr.  Baxter.  "As  the  noblest  of  creatures,  so 
the  noblest  of  Christians  are  they  whose  faces  are 
set  most  direct  for  heaven.  Such  a  heavenly  saint, 
who  hath  been  rapt  up  to  God  in  his  contem- 
plations, and  is  newly  come  down  from  his  views 
of  Christ,  —  what  discoveries  will  he  make  of  those 
superior  regions  !  How  high  and  sacred  is  his 
discourse  !  Enough  to  convince  an  understanding 
hearer  that  he  hath  seen  the  Lord,  and  that  no 
man  could  speak  such  words  except  he  had  been 
with  God.  This,  this  is  the  noble  Christian.  The 
most  famous  mountains  and  trees  are  those  that 
reach  nearest  to  heaven,  and  he  is  the  choicest 
Christian  whose  heart  is  most  frequently  and  de- 
lightfully there." 

"No  sickness  there, 
No  weary  wasting  of  the  frame  away, 
No  fearful  shrinking  from  the  midnight  air, 
No  dread  of  summer's  bright  and  fervid  ray  ! 

No  hidden  grief, 
No  wild  and  cheerless  vision  of  despair, 
No  vain  petition  for  a  swift  relief. 
No  tearful  eye,  no  broken  heart,  are  there. 

Care  has  no  home 
Within  that  realm  of  ceaseless  praise  and  song: 
15  ••' 


174  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

Its  tossing  billows  break  and  melt  in  foam, 
Far  from  the  mansions  of  the  spirit-throng. 

The  storm's  black  wing 
Is  never  spread  athwart  celestial  skies; 
Its  wailings  blend  not  with  the  voice  of  Spring, 
As  some  too  tender  floweret  fades  and  dies. 

No  night  distils 
Its  chilling  dews  upon  the  tender  frame  ; 
No  morn  is  needed  there :  the  light  which  fills 
The  land  of  glory,  from  its  Maker  came. 

No  parted  friends 
O'er  mournful  recollections  have  to  weep ; 
No  bed  of  death  enduring  love  attends, 
To  watch  the  coming  of  a  pulseless  sleep ! 

No  ivithered  flower 
Or  blasted  bud  celestial  gardens  know ! 
No  scorching  blast,  or  fierce  descending  shower 
Scatter  destruction  like  a  ruthless  foe. 

No  battle  word 
Startles  the  sacred  hosts  with  fear  and  dread ! 
The  song  of  peace,  creation's  morning  heard. 
Is  sung  wherever  angel  footsteps  tread. 

Let  VIS  depart, 
If  home  like  this  await  the  weary  soul ! 
Look  up,  thou  stricken  one  !  thy  wounded  heart 
Shall  bleed  no  more  at  sorrow's  stern  control. 

With  faith  our  guide, 
White-robed  and  innocent  to  tread  the  way. 
Why  fear  to  plunge  in  Jordan's  rolling  tide, 
And  find  the  haven  of  eternal  day  ? " 


PAKADISE     RESTOB.ED.  175 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  ISLAND   OF  PLEROPHORIA. 

Nature  and  Office  of  Faith. —  Tlie  Attainment  of  Certainty  in 
Religion.  —  Certainty  of  the  divine  Existence.  —  Three  De- 
grees of  divine  Knoicledge.  —  Illustrated  hj  Columbus.  — 
Elevation  above  the  Realm  of  Sense.  —  Right  Vieics  of  the 
divine  Character  an  Element  of  an  assured  Faith.  —  Servile 
Fear  removed.  —  Undoubting  Credence  of  the  Promises.  — 
Witness  of  the  Spirit.  —  The  prophetic  State.  —  No  neto 
Revelatio7is.  —  Habitual  Faith. — Faith  sustai7is  to  Love  a 
causal  Relation.  —  Assurance  of  Hope.  —  Affectionate  Confi- 
dence. —  State  of  Innocence. 

DURING  MY  stay  in  the  Happy  Islands,  I  vis- 
ited the  whole  group,  and  passed  repeatedly 
through  the  whole  circle.  The  Island  of  Plero- 
phoria,  or  Assurance,  was  often  visited,  and  in 
fact  was  a  favorite  resort.  Before  coming  to  this 
restored  Paradise,  the  soul  is  sometimes  in  a  wil- 
derness of  doubts  and  fears ;  but  here  they  never 
enter   as    a    disturbing    element    in    the    tranquillity 


176  X  H  £     H  A  P  1'  Y     1  S  li  A  K  I)  S  ,     OK 

of  the    spirit.     Here    they   walk   by  faith,  and    not 
by  sight. 

Faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  or, 
as  Dr.  Doddridge  renders  it,  the  conjident  expec- 
tation of  those  things  for  which  we  hope ;  it  is 
the  evidence,  or,  as  some  translate,  "  the  convincing 
proof  or  demonstration,"  of  things  not  seen,  or 
those  things  that  are  not  apprehensible  by  sensa- 
tion. Its  office  in  the  mental  economy  is  to  give 
us  a  knowledge  of  those  things  that  lie  beyond 
the  circle  of  sense.  God  has  given  to  man  five 
senses,  by  means  of  which  the  soul  is  placed  in 
communication  with  the  material  universe,  and  is 
fitted  for  existence,  and  for  the  accomplishment  of 
certain  uses  in  this  visible  world.  By  these  senses 
we  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  existence  and 
properties  of  material  things.  But  man,  by  virtue 
of  his  complex  being,  composed  as  he  is  of  soul 
and  body,  combines  in  his  structure  not  only  earth, 
but  heaven.  As  to  his  inmost  being,  he  is  a  spirit, 
and  stands  related  to  a  world  of  solid  realities  that 
lies  beyond  the  realm  of  sense.  Into  this  world 
of  unseen  realities,  infinitely  more  important  than 
this  material  and  sensible  world,  the    natural  sight 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  177 

cannot  penetrate.  The  senses  can  give  us  no  in- 
formation respecting  it.  By  faith  we  are  put  in 
communication  with  that  invisible  world,  and  those 
eternal  realities  which  it  contains.  In  that  loftier 
stage  of  faith,  and  that  higher  position  of  spiritual 
life,  which  is  called  full  assurance  of  faith,  the 
soul  is  as  really  in  communication  with  the  unseen 
world,  as  it  is  with  the  world  of  matter.  It  looks 
to  those  things  that  are  unseen  and  eternal,  as 
well  as  to  things  seen  and  temporal ;  and  the  soul 
just  as  really  knows  these  invisible  realities  by 
faith,  which  is  an  interior  sense,  adapted  to  the 
cognizance  of  spiritual  things,  as  it  does  the  form 
and  color  of  objects  by  sight.  By  faith  the  soul 
just  as  undoubtedly  and  really  perceives  the  divine 
Being,  as  the  eye  beholds  the  sun  in  the  heavens. 
Faith  is  not  opposed  to  knowledge,  for  much  of 
our  knowledge  is  derived  from  no  other  source, 
but  is  to  be  distinguished  from  sensation.  The 
senses  act  only  in  a  limited  area ;  but  outside  of 
this  there  are  realities,  and  faith  comes  in  where 
sense  leaves  us,  and  extends  the  boundaries  of  our 
knowledge.  The  knowledge  of  those  supersensual 
realities    derived    to    us    by  faith  is   as  certain   and 


178  THE     HAPPY     ISIiA>l)S,     OK 

reliable  as  from  any  other  source.  Our  senses  are 
as  liable  to  deceive  us  as  our  faith.  We  are  as 
certain  of  some  things  we  never  saw,  as  we  are 
of  any  facts  which  have  come  to  the  cognizance 
of  the  spirit  through  the  inlet  of  sensation. 

In  the  spiritual  life  there  is  a  position  of  faith 
which  is  the  "convincing  proof,"  or  demonstration, 
of  unseen  realities.  It  is  the  attainment  of  cer- 
taintij  in  religion.  So  far  as  belief  is  an  element 
of  faith,  it  may  exist  in  various  degrees.  In  its 
lowest  stage  it  is  what  Ave  call  presumption  ;  in  a 
higher,  probability  ;  and  in  its  highest  degree,  it 
becomes  certainty  —  an  undoubting  credence,  which 
is  sometimes  called  knowledge.  When  the  Chris- 
tian spirit  gets  beyond  the  withering,  desolating 
influence  of  doubt,  and  rests  upon  the  unshaken 
rock  of  certainty,  it  rises  into  a  higher  life.  The 
soul,  by  means  of  such  a  faith,  is  in  sympathy 
with  the  celestial  realms.  In  the  language  of 
John  Rogers,  the  celebrated  martyr  of  Smithfield, 
such  persons  "  live  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God, 
above  the  letter,  in  the  life ;  above  the  form,  in 
the  power ;  above  self,  in  a  higher  self ;  so  that 
they    are    no    longer    themselves,    but    are    by    the 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  179 

grace  of  God  what  they  are  ;  not  doubting  that 
they  shall  appear  perfect  in  Christ's  righteousness, 
being  pardoned  by  -his  death,  purged  by  his  blood, 
sanctified  by  his  Sjiirit,  and  saved  by  his  power." 
{Uphom's  Interior  Life,  p.  58.) 

The  first  element  of  that  matured  faith,  which 
is  denominated  assurance,  is  the  attainment  of  cer- 
tainty as  to  the  divine  existence  and  perfections. 
It  no  more  doubts  these,  than  it  does  the  testi- 
mony of  the  senses  as  to  the  existence  and  proper- 
ties of  material  things.  The  being  of  God  is  the 
most  real  and  certain  of  any  thing  in  the  universe. 
He  is  the  ground  of  all  existence,  the  fountain  of 
all  life.  He  is  the  only  Being  who  has  existence 
in  himself.  Every  thing  which  has  a  being  finds 
the  root  of  its  existence,  and  its  subsistence,  or 
continued  existence,  in  the  infinite  Life.  The  life 
of  a  soul,  or  an  insect,  is  a  stream  flowing  from 
that  Fountain  ;  and  were  it  not  continually  sup- 
plied from  its  Source,  it  would  flow  away  and 
cease  to  be.  Before  we  can  be  assured  of  the 
existence  of  any  thing,  we  must  reach  an  un- 
doubting  certainty  of  the  existence  of  the  great 
First   Cause.     There  are   three  stages  in  the  prog- 


180  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

ress  of  a  soul  in  tlie  knowledge  of  God.  The 
first  marks  the  lowest  position  of  faith  —  a  mere 
helief,  more  or  less  strong,  that  God  is,  and  that 
he  is  every  where.  This  belief  of  the  existence  of 
the  infinite  One  has  been  enstamped  on  the  uni- 
versal mind.  It  prevails  among  the  most  barba- 
rous peoples,  so  that  the  missionary,  according  to 
Dr.  Livingstone,  has  not  to  create  it  by  argument, 
but  only  to  appeal  to  it.  The  second  stage  in  the 
progress  of  the  soul  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
Deity,  is  the  demonstration  of  reason.  There  are 
two  routes,  by  which  the  intellect  arrives  at  the 
demonstration  of  the  being  of  a  God.  By  the 
one,  the  mind  infers,  from  the  numerous  marks  of 
intelligent  and  benevolent  design  every  where  dis- 
coverable in  the  universe,  the  existence  of  an 
intelligent  and  benevolent  Contriver  as  the  only 
Cause,  adequate  to  the  known  efi'ects.  The  proof 
rests  upon  the  axiom,  that  every  eff"ect  must  have 
a  cause.  Such  reasoning  does  not  originate  in  the 
human  mind  the  belief  of  a  God,  but  demonstrates 
to  reason  the  correctness  of  our  preconceived  idea 
of  the  divine  existence.  The  other  process  by 
which  the  intellect  arrives  at   an   undoubting   per- 


PARADISE     KESTOKED.  181 

suasion  of  the  fundamental  truth  that  God  exists, 
is  by  an  examination  of  the  structure  of  the  mind 
itself,  which  is  such  that  no  one  can  avoid  the 
conception  of  an  infinitely  perfect  Being.  It  is  a 
necessity  of  thought  to  believe  in  something  infi- 
nite and  eternal.  In  either  of  these  Avays  the 
reason  may  be  as  certain  that  God  is,  as  that  the 
three  angles  of  a  triangle  are  equal  to  two  right 
angles.  The  third  and  last  stage  is  an  intuition 
of  God,  an  actual  experience  of  the  divine,  an 
interior  consciousness  of  the  Deity.  To  illustrate 
these  three  stages  of  divine  knowledge,  take  Co- 
lumbus in  search  of  a  new  Avorld.  There  was, 
first,  the  idea  or  belief  that  such  a  world  existed. 
Then  he  set  himself  to  demonstrate  the  necessity 
of  it,  asserting,  from  his  knowledge  of  the  earth, 
that  a  western  continent  was  necessary  to  balance 
the  eastern.  Here  was  the  demonstration  of  reason. 
But  with  this  alone  he  could  not  rest.  He  must  place 
himself  in  actual  contact  with  it.  He  must  kneel 
upon  it,  and  have  a  conscious  experience  of  its 
reality.  This  last  step  corresponds  to  the  highest 
stage  of  the  soul  in  the  progress  of  its  knowledge 
of  God.  Short  of  an  intuition  or  inward  percep- 
IG 


182  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

tion    of    the    Deity,    the    human    spirit    never    can 
rest.     We  must  grasp  the  God  wc  seek. 

In  a  low  degree  of  faith,  the  soul  is  much  fet- 
tered by  sense.  It  is  in  bondage  to  an  inthrall- 
ing  extcrnalism,  and  its  perception  of  the  divine 
is  dimmed  by  a  materialistic  bent  of  mind.  Like 
the  sensuous  Jews  of  the  age  of  Christ,  its  gross 
mental  perceptions  must  see  signs  and  wonders,  or 
it  will  not  believe.  But  in  the  lofty  stage  of 
faith  denominated  by  St.  Paul  "  assurance,"  the 
soul  docs  not  depend  at  all  upon  outward  signs 
and  appearances.  It  does  not,  like  Thomas,  de- 
mand that  the  proof  be  brought  into  the  sphere 
of  sensation  ;  but  the  soul  goes  behind  the  veil  of 
sense,  and  is  transported  beyond  the  realm  of 
sense.  Such  a  faith  does  not  arise  from  any  thing 
outward,  and  rests  not  upon  external  signs  or  ap- 
pearances, but  upon  an  invisible  God,  of  whose 
all-pervading  life  it  has  an  inward  consciousness. 
Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have 
believed,  said  Christ  to  Peter,  who  in  a  happy 
moment  recognized  in  the  Son  of  Man  the  Son 
of  God,  and  by  a  spiritual  intuition  perceived  be- 
neath   the    servant   form   the    hidden    Divinity,   and 


PAKADISE     KESTOKED.  183 

■was  led  to  confess  the  Messiali.  "  Blessed  art 
thou,  Simon  Barjona,  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not 
revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  who  is  in 
heaven."  (Matt.  xvi.  16,  17.)  By  '^  flesh  and  blood" 
we  may  understand,  not  merely  man,  but  all  mere 
human  testimony,  and  all  outward  evidence.  Pe- 
ter's recognition  of  the  Godhead  in  Christ  was  a 
flash  of  divine  light  that  broke  through  the  sensu- 
ous envelope,  which,  at  that  time,  enclosed  his  spirit- 
ual life.  Happy  is  the  man  who  can  discern  the 
divine  presence  independent  of  all  outward  things; 
who  is  elevated  above  the  external  world,  and 
carried  out  of  the  sphere  of  sense.  He  finds  God 
in  the  hidden  depths  of  his  soul ;  beholds  him 
there,  without  form  or  parts ;  sees  him  without 
the  intervention  of  any  sensuoiis  image  ;  and  knows 
him  without  even  a  name  ;  that  is,  as  something 
which  no  name  can  express.  Pie  is  the  incompre- 
hensible Life,  Light,  and  Love,  within  the  sphere 
of  whose  influence  the  holy  soul  consciously  floats. 
Such  a  faith  brings  the  finite  spirit  within  the 
circle  in  which  the  divine  Being  imparts  to  it 
himself  and  his  own  blessedness,  and  the  soul 
receives  the  radiations  of  the  divine  life.     He  who 


184  I  HE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

attains  to  sucli  an  intuitive  apprehension  of  God, 
and  sees  him  who  is  invisible,  needs  no  outward 
evidence  or  sensible  image.  How  rich  in  heavenly- 
blessedness  are  those  moments  when  the  soul,  trans- 
ported out  of  the  sphere  of  sense,  loses  itself  in 
the  depths  of  God,  yet  so  as  to  retain  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  self-subsistence  of  the  creaturely 
spirit ;  when  the  infinite  and  finite  spirits  meet, 
and  the  two  are  made  one,  so  that  both  retain  all 
the  attributes  belonging  to  each !  Such  an  hour 
of  holy  fellowship  and  celestial  foretastes  is  worth 
an  age  of  mere  sense.  It  is  then  that  the  angelic 
in  human  nature,  Avhich  is  now  imprisoned  as  a 
chrysalis  in  this  material  covering,  begins  to  rend 
the  sensuous  envelope,  and  unfold  its  wings  to 
soar  amid  the  supersensual  glories  of  the  heavenly 
state. 

The  highest  evidence  of  God's  existence,  at  least 
to  my  own  mind,  is  not  derived  from  outward 
things.  It  is  true  the  external  world  was  made 
to  reveal  and  glorify  God,  and  to  bring  the  per- 
fections of  an  invisible  Godhead  within  the  grasp 
of  the  senses  and  the  reason.  These  outward 
things,    which    lie    in    the    circumference    of    being, 


PARADISK     RESTORED.  185 

constitute  a  thread  of  light,  which  reason  may  trace 
inward,  till  it  arrives  at  the  Central  Life.  Yet  if 
every  material  thing  in  the  universe  were  annihi- 
lated, and  there  was  nothing  in  empty  space  but 
God  and  myself,  there  would  remain  the  highest 
possible  evidence  that  he  exists.  In  fact  the  laws 
of  our  spiritual  being  are  such  that  we  cannot 
escape  the  conception  of  the  absolute  and  infinite. 
The  finite,  which  is  a  subject  of  consciousness, 
conducts  the  soul  to  the  infinite,  as  necessarily  and 
infallibly  as  the  radius  of  a  circle  leads  to  the 
centre.  They  cannot  be  separated  in  our  thought. 
If  we  think  of  space  limited  and  finite,  we  must 
think  of  unlimited  space,  which  is  immensity.  If 
we  have  the  idea  of  time  limited,  we  must  con- 
ceive of  time  infinite,  which  is  eternity.  So  of 
cause,  of  knowledge,  wisdom,  holiness,  goodness. 
But  if  we  have  the  idea  of  infinite  knowledge,  we 
cannot  avoid  the  conception  of  an  infinite  Being, 
of  whom  it  is  an  attribute.  A  quality  cannot 
exist  separate  from  the  substance  or  essence  in 
which  it  inheres.  "We  cannot  believe  in  the  ex- 
istence of  infinite  goodness  separate  from  an  infi- 
nitely good  Being,  any  more  than  a  ray  of  light 
IG-^ 


186  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

can  be  cut  off  from  the  luminous  body.  Hence 
we  have  not  only  the  abstract  idea  of  infinite  per- 
fection, but  of  an  infinite  Being  or  Existence, 
whom  it  clothes  as  an  atmosphere  of  light  does 
the  sun.  Reason  may  here  rest  satisfied  that  there 
is  a  God ;  but  we  may  go  farther  inward  than  rea- 
son itself,  and  in  the  inmost  centre  of  our  being 
perceive  the  infinite  One.  When,  through  a  moral 
harmony  subsisting  between  the  soul  and  the  di- 
vine nature,  we  are  brought  into  an  interior  union 
with,  and  experience  of,  God,  he  is  no  longer 
merely  an  idea  of  the  abstract  intellect,  like  the 
God  of  the  Grecian  philosophy,  but  the  lining  God. 
He  is  not  only  apprehended  by  reason,  but  felt  in 
the  depth  of  the  soul,  where  he  perpetually  dwells, 
as  the  Schechinah  dwelt  in  the  most  holy  place  of 
the  temple.  I  apprehend  the  more  spiritual  a  soul 
becomes,  the  more  it  is  released  from  the  bondage 
of  sense,  the  less  it  will  rely  upon  the  outward 
world  for  the  proof  of  the  divine  existence.  The 
popular  argument  derived  from  the  marks  of  de- 
sign, or  contrivance,  every  where  observable  in 
nature,  and  which  is  an  argument  so  well  adapted 
to  a  material  way  of  thinking,  will  give  place  to  a 
more  ideal  and  spiritual  proof 


PA  11  A  DISK     KESTOREU.  187 

It  is  an  element  of  the  state  of  assurea  faith 
that  the  soul  has  proper  views  of  the  nature  and 
character  of  God.  The  words  of  the  apostle  Paul, 
in  a  mitigated  sense,  find  here  their  application, 
and  are  not  to  be  confined  wholly  to  the  immortal 
state.  "  When  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  thefi 
that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away.  When 
I  was  a  child,  I  spake  as  a  child,  I  understood  as 
a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child ;  but  when  I  became 
a  man  I  put  away  childish  things.  For  now  we 
see  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face  to  face ; 
now  I  know  in  part,  but  then  shall  I  know  even 
as  also  I  am  known."  (1  Cor.  xiii.  10-12.)  It 
is  important  that  we  possess  correct  conceptions  of 
the  divine  character.  The  advent  of  that  which  is 
perfect,  or  the  attainment  of  a  matured  faith,  clears 
away  our  infantile  notions  of  the  divine  nature,  as 
the  mists  of  night  melt  away  before  the  rising  sun. 
If  Ave  draw  a  distorted  picture  of  the  Deity  in  our 
imagination,  which  no  more  resembles  the  true 
God  than  the  shapeless  images  of  paganism  are 
like  Jehovah  who  made  the  heavens,  how  can  we 
love  him  ?  We  do  not  then  really  love  liiin,  but 
a  creation    of  our    own   minds.      An    assured    faith 


188  THE     HAPPY     I  S  X  A  N  D  S  ,     OK 

prepares  the  way  for  a  pure  love,  by  removing 
from  the  divine  character  the  erroneous  views  under 
which  it  has  been  apprehended.  The  idea  of  God 
becomes  purely  spiritual,  and  he  is  contemplated 
without  the  intervention  of  any  sensuous  represen- 
tations. He  does  not  truly  know  God  who  views 
him  as  possessing  any  of  the  properties  of  matter. 
A  perfect  faith  elevates  the  soul  above  these  in- 
fantile conceptions  of  the  Divinity.  It  was  the 
remark  of  St.  Augustine,  "  that  the  capacity  of  the 
soul  is  such  as  to  enable  it  to  have  ideas  inde- 
pendently of  the  direct  action  of  the  senses  ;  and 
which  therefore  represent  things  that  are  not  char- 
acterized by  extension  and  form,  and  any  other 
attributes  that  are  visible  and  tangible."  This 
means  simply  that  the  human  spirit  may  contem- 
plate purely  spiritual  things,  and  is  all  included  in 
St.  Paul's  definition  of  faith,  as  the  demonstration 
of  unseen  realities,  or  of  things  that  lie  beyond 
the  contracted  boundaries  of  sense.  It  does  not 
view  God  as  seated  in  the  third  heavens,  subject 
to  the  finite  limitations  of  time  and  space,  but 
feels  that  there  is  not  a  point  in  unbounded  space 
where    the    whole    undivided    God   is    not,    and    at 


PARADISE     RESIOREl).  189 

every  point  the  soul  may  be  put  in  communication 
with  the  whole  Deity.  Such  a  faith  finds  him  in 
all  the  operations  of  nature.  In  that  respect  it 
makes  no  distinction  between  a  miracle  and  an 
event  occurring  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things. 
In  the  germination  of  a  grain  of  wheat  it  sees  a 
divine  power,  as  well  as  in  the  resurrection  of 
Lazarus.  It  recognizes  the  divine  agency  in  the 
rise  of  an  empire  and  in  the  fall  of  a  sparrow.  It 
raises  every  event  to  the  dignity  of  a  providence. 
The  laws  of  nature  become  to  such  a  faith  only 
the  uniform  mode  in  which  a  divine  power  acts. 
It  sees  in  Christ  a  God,  and  that  God  in  every 
page  of  the  world's  annals,  and  in  every  event  that 
befalls  us.  Perhaps  few  rise  to  this  higher  knowl- 
edge of  God.  Few  become  free  from  the  bondage 
of  sense,  and  live  in  the  region  of  pure  faith.  Those 
powers  of  our  complex  nature  that  unite  us  to 
the  external  creation  have  an  undue  predominance 
over  our  spiritual  being,  which  links  us  to  celestial 
things.  Few  rise  wholly  out  of  those  puerile  no- 
tions of  the  divine  nature  which  float  before  the 
mind  of  childhood.  As  childhood  discerns  in  hu- 
man   nature    but    little  that    is    not    material,   so  it 


190  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

sees  in  God  nothing  but  its  idea  of  humanity  pro- 
jected into  the  heavens.  Yet  it  is  better  to  know 
God  through  the  senses,  than  not  at  all.  This 
elementary  and  imperfect  knowledge  may  constitute 
the  basis  of  that  which  is  spiritual.  It  is  better 
to  see  him  as  something  visible  and  tangible  to 
the  senses,  as  he  dwelt  in  the  midst  of  ancient 
Israel,  than  never  to  behold  him  at  all.  Yet  there 
is  a  more  exalted  stacre  of  divine  knowledge. 
Under  the  gospel,  Avhich  has  cleared  away  the  in- 
crustation of  sense  from  the  idea  of  God,  we  may 
attain  as  pure  a  knowledge  of  him  as  was  pos- 
sessed by  Adam  in  Paradise.  When  the  redeemed 
spirit  arrives  to  the  maturity  of  Christian  manhood, 
it  puts  away  childish  things.  But  it  is  the  law  of 
the  soul's  development  in  this  temporal  stadium 
of  its  progress,  that  there  should  be  first  that 
which  is  earthy,  then  that  which  is  heavenly.  Its 
sensualism,  with  which  it  begins  existence,  gives 
place  to  a  refined  idealism.  The  mind  becomes 
spiritualized  in  every  department  of  its  activity,  to 
prepare  it  for  a  celestial  flight,  when  it  shall  be 
fully  emancipated  from  the  limitations  of  time 
and  sense. 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  191 

A  matured  faith  prepares  the  soul  for  the  habi- 
tation of  a  pure  love,  by  banishing  from  it  all 
servile  and  tormenting  fears  of  God.  It  presents 
him  to  the  soul  as  the  most  perfect  and  lovely 
Being  in  the  universe,  more  willing  to  impart  him- 
self to  his  creatures  than  they  are  to  receive  him. 
How  well  does  Mr.  Baxter  say,  in  his  directions 
how  to  live  on  earth  a  heavenly  life,  "  Ever  keep 
thy  soul  possessed  with  believing  thoughts  of  the 
infinite  love  of  God.  Few  so  vile  but  will  love 
those  who  love  them.  No  doubt  it  is  the  death 
of  our  heavenly  life  to  have  hard  thoughts  of  God, 
to  conceive  of  him  as  one  who  would  rather  damn 
than  save  us.  This  is  to  put  the  blessed  God 
into  the  similitude  of  Satan.  When  our  ignorance 
and  unbelief  have  drawn  the  most  deformed  picture 
of  him  in  our  imaginations,  then  we  complain  that 
we  cannot  love  him,  or  delight  in  him.  This  is 
the  case  with  many  thousand  Christians.  Alas, 
thiit  we  should  thus  blaspheme  God,  and  blast 
our  joys  !  Scripture  assures  us  that  God  is  love, 
(1  John  iv.  16,)  that  fury  is  not  in  him,  (Isa. 
xxvii.  4,)  that  he  hath  no  pleasure  in  the  death 
of  the  wicked,  but  that    the  wicked    turn  from  his 


192  THE    ir  A  r  p  Y    islands,    o  e, 

way  and  live.  (Ezek.  xxxiii.  11.)  Much  more 
liath.  he  testified  his  love  to  his  chosen,  and  his 
full  resolution  effectually  to  save  them.  O  that 
we  could  always  think  of  God  as  we  do  of  a  friend ! 
as  of  one  that  unfeignedly  loves  us,  even  more 
than  we  do  ourselves  ;  whose  very  heart  is  set  upon 
us  to  do  us  good,  and  hath  therefore  provided  for 
us  an  everlasting  dwelling  with  himself! "  The 
assurance  of  faith  removes  the  spirit  of  bondage  to 
fear,  and  restores  to  the  soul  the  spirit  of  adop- 
tion. It  displaces  all  jealous  thoughts  of  God, 
since  we  no  longer  look  to  him  through  the  dis- 
torting medium  of  conscious  guilt,  but  through  a 
pure  love.  And  perfect  love  becomes  the  best 
school  in  which  to  learn  what  God  is.  It  is  only 
by  loving  him  that  we  come  rcalli)  to  know  him. 
"  He  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God,  for  God 
is  love."  (1  John  iv.  8.)  A  guilty  soul  can  see  in 
God  only  an  object  of  fear.  Peter,  in  his  impul- 
sive nature,  when  the  divinity  of  Christ  flashed 
out  in  the  miracle  of  the  draught  of  fishes,  and 
which  called  into  activity  his  slumbering  conscious- 
ness of  sin,  felt  repelled  from  Christ,  the  most 
lovely  being  in   the  universe.     He  exclaims,  "  De- 


PAEADISi:     11  K  S  X  O  E  E  I)  .  193 

jiart  from  me,  O  Lord,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man." 
At  another  time,  under  tlie  attractive  force  of  love, 
when  he  was  invited  by  Christ  to  go  awaj',  his 
heart  spontaneously  answers,  "  To  whom  shall  we 
go  ;  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life."  Love 
conjoins  the  soul  to  its  Source,  but  fear  repels. 
When  the  soul,  borne  up  by  a  mature  faith,  rises 
from  the  earthly  to  the  heavenly  in  the  knowledge 
of  God,  and  loves  him  as  he  is,  and  for  what  he 
is,  how  seraphic  is  the  flame !  It  is  as  pure  as 
ever  glowed  in  Eden.  It  is  the  recovery  of  the 
soul  to  that  state  of  faith  in  which  it  was  created. 
"  This  is  the  true  God  and  eternal  life.  Little 
children,  keep  yourselves  from  idols."  (1  John 
V.   21.) 

In  the  state  called  full  assurance  of  faith,  there 
is  not  only  an  exemption  from  all  doubt  of  the 
divine  existence  and  perfections,  but  this  certainty 
is  transferred  to  all  the  objects  of  faith.  The  soul 
not  only  believes  without  the  shadow  of  a  doubt 
that  God  is,  but  that  he  is  also  the  rewarder  of 
them  that  diligently  seek  him.  Such  a  person 
ctaggers  not  at  the  promise  of  God,  but  is  just  as 
certain  that  God  will,  and  does,  fulfil  his  promises 
17 


194  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

as  that  he  exists.  The  true  knowledge  of  the  di- 
vine perfections  •which  he  has  gained  furnishes  an 
impossibility  in  the  way  of  the  non-fulfilment  of  the 
divine  word.  God  is  not  only  true,  hut  is  Truth 
itself;  and  every  word  which  emanates  from  him 
partakes  of  this  quality  of  the  divine  mind,  and 
can  be  nothing  but  truth.  It  is  a  ray  of  the  eternal 
Light.  The  promises  of  God,  being  an  emanation 
of  his  character,  and  resting  on  the  immutable 
basis  of  the  divine  veracity,  cannot  fail  of  ac- 
complishment. To  an  assured  faith,  a  blessing 
promised  is  as  good  as  a  blessing  possessed.  The 
soul  in  such  a  state  reposes  with  the  same  un- 
doubting  confidence  in  the  promises  of  God  as  it 
does  in  the  uniformity  of  the  operations  of  nature's 
laws.  To  believe  in  this  uniformity  of  nature's 
laws  is  inherent  in  the  essence  of  humanity.  The 
man  who  sees  the  sun  sink  below  the  vrcstern 
horizon  as  much  exjDCcts  that  it  will  rise  again  in 
the  east,  as  that  the  universe  will  exist  at  all. 
He  is  firmly  persuaded,  because  it  is  a  jiart  of  his 
mental  constitution,  that  there  will  be  the  same 
uniformity  in  the  succession  of  day  and  night, 
summer  and  winter,  seed  time  and  harvest.     So  an 


PARADISE     KESTOE.ED.  195 

assured  faith  gives  the  soul  the  same  unshaken 
conviction  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  divine 
word,  for  the  laws  of  nature  and  the  promises  of 
the  gospel  proceed  from  the  same  source  —  the  infi- 
nite Mind.  And  there  is,  if  possible,  more  reason 
to  believe  that  the  will  of  God  will  act  with  un- 
varied certainty  and  uniformity  in  fulfilling  the 
promises  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  than  that  it  will 
continue  to  act  with  uninterrupted  regularity  in 
nature. 

The  assurance  of  faith  removes  all  distressing 
doubts  of  our  personal  acceptance  with  God,  and 
adoption  into  the  celestial  family.  In  the  Hajipy 
Islands  the  complaining  moan,  "  When  shall  I 
make  these  gloomy  doubts  remove  ?  "  is  never  heard. 
Having  reached  an  undoubting  consciousness  of 
God,  and  his  boundless  and  everlasting  love,  they 
enjoy  the  constant,  abiding  witness  of  the  Spirit 
that  they  are  the  children  of  God.  In  that  inti- 
mate union  and  fellowship  with  God  which  they 
have  reached,  the  secret  of  their  pardon  flows  from 
the  mind  of  God  into  their  own,  through  the 
medium  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Because  they  arc 
sons,  God  sends  forth  the    Spirit    of  his    Son    into 


196  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

their  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father.  (Gal.  iv.  G.) 
They  have  not  received  the  spirit  that  is  of  the 
world,  for  that  is  not  cognizant  of  divine  things, 
but  the  Spirit  that  is  of  God,  that  they  may  know 
the  things  that  are  freely  given  to  them  of  God ; 
and  the  Spirit  itself  bearcth  witness  with  their 
spirit  that  they  are  the  children  of  God.  (1  Cor. 
ii.  12.  Rom.  viii.  15,  IG.)  Here  we  observe  that 
the  fact  of  our  pardon  and  adoption  is  imparted 
to  our  consciousness  by  the  direct  contact  of  the 
SjDirit  of  God.  Some  have  confined  the  state  of 
assured  faith  to  this  internal  divine  conviction  of 
our  sonship ;  but  it  differs  from  it  as  a  part  docs 
from  the  whole.  It  is  only  one  element  in  that 
moral  condition  we  call  assurance.  But  until  the 
conviction  is  inwrought  into  our  inmost  being,  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  that  we  are  justified  from  all 
things  through  Christ,  we  can  make  no  advance- 
ment in  our  spiritual  progress.  There  can  bo  no 
joy  or  peace.  In  the  presence  of  doubts  and  fears 
of  our  personal  adoption,  our  Christian  graces  wither 
like  flowers  before  the  touch  of  a  winter's  blast. 
Arvid  Gradin,  a  pious  Moravian,  beautifully  de- 
scribed to  Mr.  Wesley  the    serene    blessedness    ac- 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  197 

companying  llie  Plcrophoria,  or  Full  Assurance  of 
Faith.  It  is,  "  Requics  in  sanguine  Christi,  &c., — 
Repose  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  —  a  firm  confidence 
in  Grod,  and  persuasion  of  his  favor ;  a  serene 
peace  and  steadfast  tranquillity  of  mind,  with  a 
dcliveranco  from  every  fleshly  desire,  and  from 
every  outward  and  inward  sin.  In  a  word,  my 
heart,  Avhich  before  was  tossed  like  a  troubled  sea. 
was  still  and  quiet,  and  in  a  sweet  calm." 

This  interior  communication  of  the  soul  of  man 
with  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  takes  place  in  the 
witness  of  our  sonship,  appears  to  me  to  be  the 
same  in  its  essence  as  the  prophetic  state,  one  of 
those  spiritual  conditions  which  passed  from  Para- 
dise into  Patriarchism,  thence  into  Judaism,  and 
has  been  carried  forward  into  Christianity.  It  has 
often  appeared  to  me  that  the  religion  of  the  gos- 
pel contains  in  it  a  concentration  of  all  that  was 
truly  good  in  all  previous  religions.  The  scattered 
rays  of  good  that  proceeded  forth  from  the  Deity 
in  all  other  systems,  find  now  their  glowing  focus 
in  Christianity.  In  Judaism  especially,  there  were 
many  things  of  permanent  excellence,  many  germs 
of  au  undecaying  good,  which  were  gathered  up 
17-- 


198  THE     HAPTY     ISLANDS,     OR 

by  Christ,  and  .transplanted  in  the  gospel  age,  to 
be  more  perfectly  developed  in  a  better  soil,  and 
under  a  brighter  sun.  On  the  dissolution  of  the 
old  world,  there  were  some  things  of  enduring  ex- 
cellence that  were  not  to  vanish  away.  Every 
thing  of  real  value  in  all  preceding  dispensations 
has  passed  down  into  Christianity,  and  there  be- 
come the  property  of  all  true  believers.  For  it  is 
a  characteristic  feature  of  Christianity  to  render 
common  and  universal  what  was  in  Judaism  the 
privilege  of  only  a  few.  That  which  might  be 
deemed  an  extraordinary  vouchsafcmcnt  of  the 
Deity  may  now  be  the  ordinary  experience  of  be- 
lievers. See  this  illustrated  in  the  universal  priestly 
character  of  Christians.  The  privilege  of  entering 
the  most  holy  place,  enjoyed  only  by  the  high  priest, 
and  that  but  once  a  year,  is  now  given,  according 
to  St.  Paul,  to  all  the  children  of  God,  and  every 
day  and  hour  of  their  lives.  By  a  new  and  living 
v.-ay,  because  of  its  more  spiritual  character,  they 
may  pass  beyond  the  veil  into  the  holiest  place  of 
all.  So  that  the  priestly  aristocracy  has  disap- 
peared from  the  church,  and  given  place  to  the 
universal  priestly  dignity  of  the  followers  of  Christ. 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  199 

Every  believer  is  not  only  now  a  priest,  but  a  high 
priest,  and  all  the  pontifical  functions  are  dis- 
charged by  him.  The  holy  days,  and  particular 
times  and  seasons,  are  Extended  by  Christ  to  the 
whole  life.  The  unappi'oachable  sanctity  of  partic- 
ular places,  as  the  temple,  is  now  extended  to 
every  point  of  the  earth's  surface,  Avhere  the  soul 
holds  communion  with  a  present  God.  In  every 
place,  hallowed  by  the  presence  of  Deity,  we  arc 
to  lift  up  holy  hands  without  wrath  and  doubting. 
So  with  regard  to  the  prophetic  state.  It  gleams 
as  a  vein  of  pure  gold  amid  the  dross  of  the  worth- 
less externalism  of  the  former  age.  It  was  not  to 
vanish  away  on  the  dissolving  of  the  Jevv'ish  heav- 
ens, but  is  among  those  priceless  goods  which  can- 
not be  shaken,  and  which  contain  an  immortal 
germ.  When  ]Moses  was  informed  that  Eldad  and 
]\Iedad  were  prophesying  in  the  camp,  he  uttered 
the  wish  that  in  an  after  age  proved  prophetic  — 
"  Would  God  that  all  the  Lord's  people  were 
prophets,  and  that  the  Lord  would  put  his  Spirit 
upon  them."  (Xum.  xi.  29.)  This  benevolent 
wish  has,  by  the  universal  love  of  God,  been  made 
a  living  reality  by  the  gospel.     The  measure  of  the 


200  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

Spirit's  influence,  which  was  necessary  to  consti- 
tute the  prophetic  state,  is  not  now  confined  to 
the  few.  Tliis  once  extraordinary  vouchsafement 
has  now  become  the  con-fmon  experience  of  the 
pure  in  heart.  The  prophet  Joel  broke  the  an- 
nouncement to  his  incredulous  countrymen,  that  in 
the  last  days,  the  Messianic  age,  it  should  come 
to  pass  that  Jehovah  would  pour  out  his  Spirit 
upon  all  flesh,  and  their  sons  and  their  daughtei's 
should  prophesy.  (Joel  ii.  28.)  This  was  fulfilled 
on  the  opening  of  the  Christian  age  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost.  From  that  time,  heaven  has  poured 
itself  more  largely  and  universally  into  the  mind 
of  God's  people.  The  Spirit's  influence,  which 
prophets  only  enjoyed  in  the  patriarchal  and  Mo- 
saic church,  is  now  the  privilege  of  all.  The  pro- 
phetic state  is  no  longer  confined  to  the  few,  and 
is  not  a  peculiarity  of  Judaism.  Does  not  Chris- 
tianity bring  the  soul  into  as  close  a  fellowship 
with  God  as  Judaism  did  ?  Is  God  less  familiar 
with  the  Christian  than  he  was  with  the  Jew  ? 
In  this  respect  he  that  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  greater  than  John  the  Baptist.  But 
what  was  the   essence    of    the  prophetic    state }     It 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  201 

was  not  the  prescience  of  future  events.  To  an- 
ticipate history,  to  cast  a  piercing  glance  into  futu- 
rity, and  foretell  what  shall  befall  a  nation  or 
individual,  was  not  the  main  part  of  prophecy, 
but  something  accidental  rather  than  essential. 
There  can  be  prophecy  without  predictions.  But 
the  prophetic  state  consisted  mainly  in  an  un- 
clouded consciousness  of  God,  who  inly  spake  to 
the  soul.  The  senses  were  called  off  from  outward 
objects,  the  soul  retired  into  its  inner  sanctuary, 
the  holy  of  holies,  and  held  converse  with  God. 
All  other  voices  were  silenced,  the  clamor  of  un- 
satisfied desires  and  selfish  passions  ceased,  the 
whole  universe  Avas  dumb,  and  God's  voice  M'as 
heard  in  the  depth  of  the  spirit.  This  holy  con- 
verse with  Deity  was  enjoyed  by  Adam  in  Para- 
dise, as  also  by  Abraham  and  other  holy  patri- 
archs. The  Jewish  prophets,  that  succession  of 
unworldly  men,  heard  the  voice  of  God  within. 
But  the  same  intuition  of  God  which  they  en- 
joyed, and  the  same  blessedness  of  divine  internal 
converse,  is  now  the  privilege  of  all  the  pure  in 
heart.  God  still  speaks  to  holy  souls.  He  speaks 
through    the    ordinary    laws    of    mental    action ;    in 


202  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

the  decisions  of  a  sanctified  judgment ;  in  an  illu- 
minated reason ;  in  the  voice  of  an  enlightened 
conscience ;  and  by  impressing  directly  our  con- 
sciousness. A  proplijt,  in  the  Xew  Testament 
sense,  is  one  who  is  taught  of  God,  and  who 
speaks  to  others  from  an  inward  divine  impulse 
and  conviction.  When  the  Jewish  prophet  declared 
of  the  Christian  age,  that  all  its  children  should 
be  taught  of  God,  and  that  great  should  be  their 
peace,  he  intimates  the  universality  of  the  pro- 
phetic state.  What  we  call  the  witness  of  the 
Spirit  to  our  adoption,  is  the  voice  of  God  within, 
not  conveyed  to  the  soul  by  words  either  external 
or  internal,  but  by  impressing  the  inmost  springs 
of  thought,  and  creating  an  inward  consciousness 
by  his  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  are  his  children.  It 
is  in  its  essence  the  same  as  the  prophetic  state. 

In  the  Happy  Islands  all  are  priests  and  proph- 
ets. But  they  have  no  new  revelations.  As  the 
system  of  revealed  truth  stands  out  in  all  its  com- 
pleteness, with  nothing  redundant,  nothing  defec- 
tive, we  are  not  to  look  for  any  new  communica- 
tions of  truth  from  God.  If  God  speaks,  it  is 
generally  in    the    language    of    the    written    word, 


PARADISE     KESTOKED.  203 

and  always  in  perfect  harmony  Avith  it.     The  Spirit 
may    call    all    things    to     our    remembrance    which 
Christ    has    spoken,  and    apply  those    truths  to  our 
hearts,  when  the  occasion  demands  it,  with  all  the 
freshness    of    a    new    communication    from    heaven. 
There  may  be,  and  there  will  no  doubt  be,  a  pro- 
gressive    development    of     those     germs     of     truth 
which  Christ    by  the    gospel    has    deposited    in   the 
mind    of    the    race.      Under    the    influence    of  the 
Paraclete,   or    divine     Teacher    and    Comforter,    the 
simplest    sentence    that    ever    fell    from    the  lips    of 
the    Son    of    God,    may    be    unfolded    to    infinity. 
Every  sentence    of   the    gospel,    coming    deep    from 
the  abyss  of  the  divine    Mind,  has  in  it    the  germ 
of  an  endless  expansion.     The  Christian   mind  has 
as  yet  only  stirred    the    surface  of  the    great    deep 
of   truth    with    which    the    gospel    has    flooded   the 
world.     Eternity   alone    can    penetrate    the    bottom. 
While    the    holy  soul,    in    stillness    and    silence,  in 
the    sacred    solitude    of   the    closet,    may   still   hear 
the    small    voice    within,    in    the    sweetest,    divinest 
of  all  harmonies,  no  new  announcements  will  break 
upon    the    enraptured    ear.       The    book   is    already 
full  and  crowded  with  truth;    it  is  the  function  of 


204  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

prophecy  to  break  the  seven  seals,  and  unroll  the 
volume.  Christ  has  not  left  us  in  orphanage.  He 
is  still  with  his  disciples.  In  the  deepest  soli- 
tude, the  holy  soul  is  not  alone.  The  purified 
heart  can  never  be  companionless.  What  a  fa- 
miliarity it  has  with  Divinity,  when  assurance 
takes  the  place  of  its  doubts,  and  perfect  love  that 
of  its  servile  fear.  There  are  no  two  beings  in 
the  universe  who  converse  oftener  or  more  fiunil- 
iarly  than  God  and  such  a  soul.  Though  outside 
of  the  geographical  boundaries  of  the  original  Par- 
adise, the  redeemed  spirit  walks  with  God.  This 
sweet  familiarity  with  the  Deity,  which  is  the 
fruit  of  an  assured  faith,  removes  all  doubts  of 
our  adoption  into  the  heavenly  family. 

In  the  state  of  assurance,  faith  becomes  habit- 
ual. It  is  no  longer  an  effort  to  believe  and 
trust,  but  is  a  spontaneity.  A  mental  act  often 
repeated  creates  a  tendency  in  the  soul  to  act 
in  that  direction.  This  law  of  habit  applies  to 
faith. 

A  mature  faith  is  a  fixed  state  of  the  will.  It 
is  not  periodical,  but  is  a  ceaseless  current  of  the 
soul's    divine    life.       When    faith    becomes    a    habit 


PAKADISE     KESTOEED.  205 

and  a  life,  it  secures  to  the  soul  a  constant  flow 
of  the  blessings  of  the  new  covenant.  Not  be- 
cause it  has  merit  to  purchase  the  divine  favor, 
but  because  it  renders  the  heart  receptive  of  the 
blessings  of  grace.  It  brings  the  soul  into  tliat 
only  condition  in  which  it  is  possible  for  it  to 
receive  the  blessings  of  God.  It  is,  for  instance, 
only  by  faith  that  the  objective  reconciliation  to 
God,  which  Christ  has  wrought  for  us,  becomes 
subjective,  or  an  internal  state  of  mind,  and  is 
appropriated  to  the  soul's  comfort.  In  the  state 
of  assurance,  it  has  become  a  mental  habit  to  rely 
upon  the  blood  of  sprinkling  for  acceptance  with 
the  Father.  To  trust  in  Christ  alone  for  salvation, 
has  become  incorporated  into  the  soul's  texture, 
and  made  a  part  of  itself.  That  which  was  once 
a  labor,  an  effort  of  will,  is  now  spontaneous. 
By  this  unwavering  faith  in  the  sacrifice  of  the 
cross,  it  is  justified  freely  and  fully.  It  is  made 
as  free  from  guilt  as  Adam  was  in  Paradise. 
"  There  is,  therefore,  now  no  condemnation  to 
them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus."  (Rom.  viii.  1.) 
The  mountain  of  guilt  and  despair  is  upheaved 
from  our  condition.  The  justification  of  the  be- 
18 


206  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

lieving  soul  through  faith  is  as  perfect  as  was  the 
justification  of  our  first  parents  by  the  covenant 
of  works.  Behold  in  this  another  element  of  the 
paradisiacal  state  restored.  God  forgives  and  for- 
gets. "  He  will  subdue  our  iniquities,  and  cast  all 
our  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea."  (Micah  vii. 
19.)  He  pardons  and  restores.  The  soul,  thus 
freed  from  all  consciousness  of  guilt,  and  experi- 
encing the  blessedness  of  him  whose  iniquity  is 
covered,  and  to  whom  the  Lord  will  not  impute 
sin,  draws  near  to  God  in  affectionate  reliance. 
It  reposes  in  him.  It  confides  in  him  as  undoubt- 
ingly  as  the  infant  rests  upon  the  maternal  bosom. 
Here  faith,  by  an  insensible  gradation,  passes  into 
love.  Such  a  faith  is  the  groundwork  of  love. 
It  is  the  very  substance  of  love.  It  connects  the 
sundered  tie  between  God  and  the  human  spirit. 
It  conjoins  the  Infinite  and  the  finite,  the  Creator 
and  the  creature.  It  restores  the  soul  to  God, 
from  whom  it  had  been  disjoined  by  the  revolt  of 
its  free  will.  This  faith  sustains  to  love  a  causal 
relation.  Such  are  the  lav>'s  of  our  spiritual  nature 
that  love  can  be  restored  to  our  lapsed  humanity 
only  through  faith.     "When  the  soul,  with  child-like 


PARADISE     KESIOKED.  207 

simplicity,  trusts  all  to  God,  as  Adam  did  in  Eden, 

then  there  arises  in  the  soul  the  love  of  Paradise. 

The    redeemed    soul    is    like  a  tree    planted    in    the 

courts    of    the    Lord's    palace.      Faith    is    its    vital 

root,  love    the    trunk,  and    the  graces  which    adorn 

and    constitute     the     Christian    character    are     the 

branches.     If  the  root  -withers,  the  tree  fades. 

The  assurance  of  faith  removes  all  painful  doubts 

respecting    the  soul's    future  blessedness,  and  gives 

it  the  full  assurance  of  hope.   (Heb.  vi.  11.)     In  its 

habitual  faith,  which  has  caused  the  soul  to  be  rooted 

and    grounded    in    love,   it    finds    a    pledge    of    its 

perseverance.     In  its  confirmed  holiness,  it  has  the 

beginnings   and   earnest  of  the   life   eternal,  and   is 

fully   persuaded    that   it    shall    reach    the    celestial 

Avorld.      The  apostle    Paul    speaks    in  the  language 

of   an    assured    hope,  when    he     says,    "  We    know 

that    if  our  earthly  house  of   this    tabernacle    were 

dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not 

made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."   (2  Cor, 

V.    1.) 

"  The  glorious  crovm  of  righteousness 
To  me  reached  out  I  view ; 
Conqueror  tlirough  him,  I  soon  shall  seize, 
And  wear  it  as  my  due." 


208  THE     11  A  F  P  Y     ISLANDS,     OK 

An  assured  faith  brings  heaven  near  to  the 
soul,  and  into  the  soul,  and  thus  becomes  "  the 
substance  of  things  hoped  for."  Heaven  is  nearer 
to  a  soul  in  union  with  God  than  tlie  soul  is  to 
the  body.  For  the  human  spirit  is  not  removed 
from  heaven  so  much  by  distance  of  space,  or 
physical  position,  as  by  condition  of  state.  It  is 
said  of  the  man  Jesus,  that  he  was  in  heaven 
when  he  was  on  earth.  "  Even  the  Son  of  man 
who  is  in  heaven."  Whatever  Avas  predicated  of 
Christ's  humanity  may,  in  a  mitigated  sense,  be 
asserted  of  every  real  Christian,  for  it  is  the  glory 
of  the  disciple  that  he  is  like  the  Master.  And 
the  Christian,  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of 
God,  has  been  predestinated  to  be  conformed  to 
the  image  of  the  Son.  As  Christ  lived  and  moved 
in  the  very  element  of  heaven,  so  does  a  truly 
Christian  soul.  The  heavenly  heart  finds  in  its 
sweet  fruition  of  the  divine  presence  the  prophecy 
of  its  full  beatitude  in  the  immortal  state ;  and 
having  access  into  that  grace  wherein  we  stand, 
it  rejoices  in  full  hope  of  the  glory  of  God. 

There  is  a  faith  which  belonged  to  man's  primi- 
tive   state  of  innocence ;    and  Avhich    it  will    retain 


PARADISE     KESXORED.  209 

in  its  transition  to  immortality,  which  I  found  re- 
stored in  the  Happy  Islands.  This  faith  is  not 
merely  a  reliance  upon  the  atonement  for  salva- 
tion, but  a  state  of  affectionate  confidence  which 
the  soul  feels  towards  God.  All  servile  fear  is 
banished  ;  the  redeemed  spirit  reclines  on  the 
bosom  of  the  God  of  love,  and  is  not  repulsed. 
No  sooner  did  man  sin,  than  a  sense  of  guilt  came 
in  between  the  soul  and  its  Maker.  It  became 
jealous  of  God,  confidence  was  destroyed,  and  man 
fled  away  to  hide  himself  from  the  divine  jDres- 
ence.  In  Christ  and  Christianity  this  original 
confidence  is  restored.  The  purified  heart  no 
longer  flees  from  God,  but  yields  to  the  current 
of  the  divine  attraction,  and  runs  to  his  open 
arms.  This  aff'ectionato  confidence  is  the  ground- 
work of  that  moral  condition  we  call  innocence, 
which  was  man's  original  state,  and  which  is  the 
ultimate  goal  of  the  soul's  redemptive  progress  in 
this  earthly  sphere.  It  is  the  highest  spiritual 
condition  attainable  by  human  nature,  and  is  that 
which  links  the  soul  to  the  consummate  blessed- 
ness of  the  celestial  realms.  It  is  the  most  lovely 
feature  in  the  condition  of  little  children,  though 
18  '- 


210  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

it  exists  in  them  more  as  a  negative  than  as  a 
positive  state.  As  a  moral  condition,  it  is  a  free- 
dom from  all  evil  intentions ;  a  harmlessness  of 
chai'acter,  based  on  perfect  love ;  a  freedom  from 
conscious  guilt,  which  has  been  washed  away  by 
the  blood  of  Christ ;  a  pure  simplicity  of  heart, 
exemption  from  all  suspicion  of  God,  and  an  un- 
stained moral  purity.  When  this  primitive  con- 
fidence is  restored  to  the  soul,  how  sweet  is  its 
intercourse  with  Divinity !  Its  profound  content- 
ment in  God  leaves  it  nothing  to  ask ;  its  inno- 
cence removes  all  its  fear.  In  the  Happy  Islands 
how  often  did  the  Deity  come  down  and  walk 
with  the  redeemed  race  who  there  dwelt,  in  the 
cool  of  the  day !  The  purified  soul  in  this  state 
of  restored  confidence  and  child-like  innocence  feels 
an  inefi'able  satisfaction  in  being  in  the  presence 
of  God, 

"  Within  his  circling  arms  to  lie, 
Beset  on  every  side." 

It  is  difficult  for  the  soul  to  come  down  from 
that  elevated  position  of  spiritual  life  to  which  an 
assured  faith  sometimes  raises  it,  and  from  its 
seraphic  communion  with   its  heavenly  Friend,  and 


PARADISE     liESTORED.  211 

reproduce  its  experience  in  words.  There  is  an 
infantile  stage  of  Christian  life,  a  position  of  weak- 
ness and  instability,  when  we  are  afraid  that  our 
words  express  too  much.  There  is  another  expe- 
rience of  divine  things,  which  no  language,  not 
even  the  highest  form  of  poetry,  which  borders 
upon  inspiration,  can  express.  How,  then,  can  we 
describe  that  child-like  trust  and  loving  confidence, 
Avhich  man,  in  his  pristine  innocence,  felt  towards 
God,  and  which  is  restored  to  the  pure  in  heart  ? 
No  man  in  modern  ecclesiastical  history  knew 
better  what  it  was  than  Archbishop  Fenelon.  As 
he  describes  it,  his  language  glows  with  the  radi- 
ance of  Paradise.  He  says,  "  AYe  are  with  God 
as  with  a  friend.  At  first  we  have  a  thousand 
things  to  say  to  our  friend,  and  a  thousand  to 
ask  of  him  ;  but,  in  time,  all  this  matter  of 
conversation  is  drained,  and  yet  the  pleasure  of 
the  intercourse  cannot  cease.  We  have  said  all ; 
but  without  speaking,  we  take  pleasure  to  be  to- 
gether, to  sec  each  other,  to  repose  ourselves  in 
the  satisfactions  of  a  sweet  and  pure  friendship. 
We  are  silent,  but  in  the  silence  Ave  hear  and  un- 
derstand  each  other.      We    know    ourselves    to    be 


212  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

alike  in  every  tiling,  and  that  our  two  hearts 
make  but  one  ;  the  one  pours  itself  forth  contin- 
ually into  the  other."  Such  is  the  mutual  com- 
munication between  God  and  the  holy  heart.  This 
silent  communion  is  only  faintly  imaged  by  the 
union  of  two  earthly  friends,  and  their  sweet  but 
silent  intercourse  of  looks  and  smiles.  Here  is  no 
coyness,  no  shyness,  no  reserve,  no  distance,  but 
an  ineffable  oneness  of  spirit.  This  confidence 
hath  great  recompense  of  reward.  It  is  this  that 
made  Abraham  the  intimate  friend  and  bosom  con- 
fidant of  Jehovah.  This  familiar,  confiding  repose 
in  the  love  of  God  is  a  faith  which  abideth  for- 
ever. It  is  a  spark  of  the  immortal  life.  "  Now 
abideth  faith,  hope,  charity,  these  three  ;  but  the 
greatest  of  these  is  charity."  (1  Cor.  xiii.  13.) 
This  endearing  confidence  the  soul  carries  with  it  in 
its  ascent  into  the  heavenly  life.  There  it  brings 
the'  hallowed  spirit  near  to  God,  to  spend  an  end- 
less age  in  the  sweet  endearments  of  his  love, 
which  shall  perpetually  "  twine  around  the  soul." 
This  restored  confidence  is  often  referred  to  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  as  belonging  to  this  temporal  stage 
of  our   redemption.     "  In   whom  [Christ]   we   have 


PAKADISK     KESTOKED.  '2io 

boldness,  and  access  with  confidence,  by  the  faith 
of  him."  (Eph.  iii.  12.)  Here  is  described  a  con- 
fident trust,  a  freedom  from  an  nubelieving  timidity, 
which  characterizes  the  intercourse  of  the  Christian 
sjiirit  with  God.  Says  the  apostle  John,  who 
furnishes  the  best  example  of  this  degree  of  faith, 
"  And  now,  little  children,  abide  in  him,  that 
when  he  shall  appear,  we  may  have  confidence, 
and  not  be  ashamed  before  him  at  his  comins:." 
(1  John  ii.  28.)  "  Beloved,  if  our  heart  condemn 
us  not,  then  have  we  confidence  toward  God." 
(1  John  iii.  21.)  Again,  "This  is  the  confidence 
that  we  have  in  him,  that  if  we  ask  any  thing 
according  to  his  will,  he  heareth  us."  (1  John  v. 
14.)  The  soul  united  to  Christ  by  a  vital  faith 
feels  no  condemnation,  but  a  sweet  persuasion  of 
divine  acceptance,  an  inward  assurance  that  God 
is  well  pleased.  This  inward  conviction  of  God's 
everlasting  love  to  us  becomes  so  deeply  seated 
in  our  consciousness,  that  no  darkness  or  trouble 
can  destroy  it.  Its  language  is,  "  For  I  am  per- 
suaded, that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  ano-els, 
nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present, 
nor    things    to    come,    nor    height,    nor    depth,    nor 


214  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord."  (Rom.  viii.  38,  39.)  Thus  "  the  work 
of  righteousness  shall  be  peace,  and  the  effect  of 
righteousness,  quietness  and  assurance  forever." 
(Isa.  xxxii.  17.)  "Having  therefore,  brethren,  bold- 
ness [or  liberty,  permission]  to  enter  into  the 
holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living 
way,  which  he  hath  consecrated  for  us,  through 
the  vail,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh  ;  and  having  a  high 
priest  over  the  house  of  God ;  let  us  draw  near 
with  a  true  heart,  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  having 
our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  and 
our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water."  (Heb.  x. 
19-22.) 


PAKADISE     KESTOKED.  215 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
TELEIA  AGAPE,  OR  THE  REALIM  OF  PURE  LOVE. 

Earth  joined  to  Heaven. —  The  Bride's  Chamhcr. — Friendship 
icith  Jesus.  —  Excellency  of  Love.  —  What  is  perfect  Love? 
It  is  sincere  Love;  it  is  perpetual;  a  fixed  state  of  the 
will;  it  is  supreme. —  Grateful  Love. — Loving  God  alone. 
—  Ceaseless  Prayer.  —  The  Love  of  God  for  his  oicn  Sake.  — 
Quotation  from  Abelard.  —  It  casts  out  Fear.  —  The  Cure  of 
wandering  Thoughts.  —  Spontaneous  Obedience.  —  Love  a 
poicerful  Principile.  —  Love  restored  in  the  Happy  Islands,  — 
The  lost  Harmony  of  the  outward  World.  —  State  of  Society.  — 
Longevity  of  the  People.  —  Death  abolished.  —  Corresp)ondence 
of  the  material  World  with  the  spiritual. 

TIROM  THE  Island  of  Plerophoria  I  passed 
-L  over  into  Teleia  Agape,  or  the  realm  of  Pure 
Love.  In  no  island  of  the  whole  group  did  I 
trace  more  of  the  lineaments  of  Paradise  than 
here.  The  yearnings  of  the  soul  for  earth's  lost 
garden  of  delights  were  here  more  fully  satisfied 
than   ever   they  before    had   been.     Here  I  found  a 


216  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

people  who  had  begun  to  wear  the  garments  of 
eternal  day,  and  the  island  seemed  to  be  on  the 
confines  of  the  earthly  state,  where  it  borders  upon 
the  celestial  realms,  and  the  spirit  finds  itself  in 
the  antechamber  of  heaven.  As  the  portico  of 
Solomon's  Temple  was  adorned  with  goodly  gifts, 
such  as  a  golden  vine  of  immense  value,  so  in 
this  island  the  sanctified  s^iirit  enjoyed  a  foretaste 
of  a  heavenly' repast,  and  partook  of  angels'  food. 
The  inhabitants  could  truly  say,  — 

"  I  hold  a  middle  rank  'twixt  heaven  and  earth, 
On  the  last  verge  of  mortal  being  stand, 
Close  to  the  realms  where  angels  have  their  birth, 
Just  on  the  boundaries  of  the  spirit  land." 

Through  a  divine  sympathy  of  spirit,  the  people 
of  the  celestial  plains  seemed  to  be  brought  near, 
and  heaven  appeared  to  be  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood. The  soul  here  could  pass  over  the  abyss 
that  separates  the  two  worlds,  and  which  faith 
had  bridged,  and,  on  the  wings  of  love,  soar  to  its 
divine  Source  and  Author.  The  love  which  here 
reigned  seemed  to  bind  the  whole  universe  of  holy 
beings  in  one  bundle  of  life.  By  virtue  of  his 
internal   spiritual  nature,  which    had    been  cleansed 


PARADISE     RESTOKED.  217 

and  filled  with,  holy  love,  man  here  seemed  an  inhab- 
itant of  the  spiritual  world,  while  at  the  same  time, 
in  consequence  of  his  external  material  covering,  he 
dwelt  in  the  natural  world.  Thus  he  is  an  inhab- 
itant of  both  worlds,  and  finds  in  his  complex 
being  adaptations  to  each,  just  as  certain  animal 
existences  have  been  observed  in  a  transition  state 
from  the  element  in  which  they  had  their  birth 
to  a  higher  condition  of  life,  and  have  organs  that 
belong  to  each.  He  who  loves  God  supremely  and 
perfectly  is  not  only  in  communion  with  all  the 
saints  on  earth,  but  is  in  the  communion  of  the 
angels  of  heaven ;  and  like  the  holy  apostle,  he 
"  bows  his  knees  before  the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven 
and  earth  is  named."  (Eph.  iii.  14,  15.)  The 
common  love  of  God  constitutes  a  sympathetic  bond, 
a  fellow-feeling,  which  brings  them  near,  for  we 
are  not  separated  from  the  heavenly  branch  of  the 
Lord's  family  by  spatial  distances,  so  much  as  by 
a  disagreement  of  spiritual  state.  This  chasm  per- 
fect love  had  filled  in  the  Happy  Islands,  and 
through  these  blissful  groves  angels  imseen  de- 
lighted to  wander.  It  is  thought  by  some  philos- 
19 


218  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

ophers  that  the  eastern  and  western  hemispheres 
were  once  together,  and  by  some  violent  disrup- 
tion of  nature  were  sundered.  The  prominences 
of  the  one  continent  seem  now  ready  to  fit  into 
the  depressions  of  the  other,  if  they  could  only  be 
brought  together  again.  So  the  celestial  and  earth- 
ly worlds,  like  the  two  continents,  were  once 
together.  Sin  caused  a  violent  disruption  of  the 
two,  but  perfect  love  being  restored  to  the  whole 
of  earth,  the  two  worlds  would  again  flow  together. 
In  the  island  which  I  had  now  entered  Avas 
found  the  bride's  chamber,  where  she  made  ready 
for  the  bridegroom.  "  The  King's  daughter,  the 
church,  is  here  all  glorious  within  ;  her  clothing  is 
of  wrought  gold.  She  shall  be  brought  unto  the 
King  in  raiment  of  needlework ;  and  the  virgins, 
her  companions  that  follow  her,  shall  be  brought 
unto  him.  With  gladness  and  rejoicing  shall  they 
be  brought ;  they  shall  enter  into  the  King's  pal- 
ace." (Ps.  xlv.  13-15.)  Here  the  wedding  gar- 
ment v,-as  put  on,  and  the  heart  often  exclaimed, 
"I  will  greatly  rejoice  in  the  Lord;  my  soul  shall 
be  joyful  in  my  God  ;  for  he  hath  clothed  me  with 
the     garments     of    salvation,    he    hath    covered    me 


PARADISE     KESTORED.  219 

with  the  robe  of  righteousness,  as  a  bridegroom, 
decketh  himself  with  ornaments,  and  as  a  bride 
adorneth  herself  -with  her  jewels."  (Isa.  Ixi.  10.) 
The  soul  also  hears  the  voice  of  God,  sa}-ing, 
"  I  will  betroth  thee  unto  me  forever  ;  yea,  I  will 
betroth  thee  unto  me  in  righteousness,  and  in 
judgment,  and  in  loving  kindness,  and  in  mercies. 
I  will  even  betroth  thee  unto  me  in  faithfulness." 
(Hosea  ii.  19,  20.) 

There  is  an  intimate  union  with  Christ,  a  mu- 
tual love  and  friendship,  which  may,  with  propri- 
ety, be  called  the  espousal  of  the  soul  to  Christ, 
because  it  is  the  realization  of  what  is  symbolized 
by  the  divine  institution  of  marriage,  which,  ac- 
cording to  St.  Paul,  has  its  spiritual  significance. 
(Eph.  v.  32.)  Marriage,  in  its  essence,  is  a  union 
of  two  souls  in  one  through  love.  The  founder 
of  the  Peripatetic  philosophy  has  defined  friendship 
to  bo  "one  soul  in  two  bodies."  There  is  such 
a  friendship  with  Jesus.  He  says  to  his  disciples, 
"  Ye  are  no  longer  servants,  but  friends,  for  the 
servant  knoweth  not  what  his  lord  doeth."  When 
the  soul  rises  above  that  spiritual  condition  sym- 
bolized by  a  servant,  and  rises  to  that  of  a  confi- 


220  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

dant  of  Jesus,  lie  unbosoms  himself  to  that  soul 
in  the  endearments  of  the  most  familiar  intercourse. 
This  friendship  is  based  upon  a  similarity  of  char- 
acter and  affinity  of  disposition.  Where  this  is 
wanting  there  can  be  no  permanent  and  perfect 
union.  There  will  be  more  points  of  repulsion 
than  attraction,  and  a  sense  of  distance  will  be  the 
result.  The  holy  friendship  existing  between  the 
Lord  and  his  sanctified  people  is  based  on  a  sym- 
pathy of  feeling  and  temper,  which  becomes  per- 
petually stronger  by  the  fellowship  to  which  the 
soul  is  admitted.  For  one  always  carries  about 
with  him  the  impress  of  his  nearest  friends.  He 
receives  into  his  inner  life  their  modes  of  thought 
and  expression,  their  feelings,  their  likes  and  dis- 
likes. Could  we  look  into  the  heart  of  the  real 
Christian  through  the  separating  veil,  we  should 
sec  there  the  image  of  Jesus.  He  is  joined  to  the 
Lord,  and  is  one  spirit  with  him.  The  friendships 
of  the  world,  such  as  commercial  friendships,  and 
such  as  appear  to  exist  between  bad  men  engaged 
in  the  same  employment,  as  thieves  and  pirates, 
are  based  upon  the  lower  and  selfish  sentiments 
of  our  nature,  and  are  mere  temporary  attachments 


PAllADISE     RESTORED.  221 

springing  from  interest,  and  may  suddenly  cease, 
or  change  to  deadly  enmity  and  rancor.  The 
friendship  the  redeemed  spirit  lias  with  Jesus  is 
founded  upon  the  holiest  sentiments  and  principles 
of  our  nature,  and  is  more  lasting  than  Ararat  or 
the  Andes.  Flowing  from  the  purest  source,  it 
will  outlive  the  pyramids,  survive  the  conflagra- 
tion of  the  world,  and  exist  through  the  revolving 
cycles  of  eternal  ages.  It  will  forever  glow  in  the 
fadeless  splendors  of  an  immortal  day.  The  voice 
of  God  is,  "I  will  betroth  thee  unto  me  forever." 
In  this  island  I  had  entered  the  domain  of  pure 
love  and  the  realm  of  peace.  Love  is  the  prin- 
ciple of  holiness,  and  the  highest  bliss  of  the  soul. 
The  heaven  of  heavens  is  love.  The  power  to  love 
God  is  the  greatest  gift  bestowed  upon  liuman 
nature.  It  is  the  crowning  blessing  of  infinite 
goodness.  He  who  loves  nothing  but  himself  is 
in  the  profoundest  misery.  It  is  the  very  essence 
of  hell.  To  love  any  thing  out  of  ourselves  makes 
the  soul  happier.  But  to  love  Jesus,  and  be  con- 
scious that  he  loves  us,  is  to  experience  the  holiest 
and  happiest  emotion  of  the  human  heart.  O  the 
bliss,  the  heavenly  sweetness,  of  that  hour  when 
19  ^•^ 


222  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

God  alone  is  loved  !  It  is  heaven  come  down  to 
earth.  It  is  Paradise  repaired.  A  soul  consumed 
with  the  love  of  God  and  of  Christ  droops  in  the 
absence  of  God,  or  if  he  but  conceal  his  face,  like 
a  flower  smitten  with  an  autumnal  frost.  Where 
perfect  love  reigns,  the  soul  cleaves  to  Jesus.  The 
thought  of  separation  is  a  pang  of  agony.  Life 
without  him  would  be  a  burden,  and  the  universe 
a  gloomy  solitude.  The  highest  ideal  of  heavenly 
bliss  is  an  eternal  union  with  him  —  to  be  where 
he  is  and  to  be  like  him.  When  he  is  present, 
all  is  well ;  pain  is  sweet,  labor  is  rest,  and  death 
itself,  as  the  messenger  to  summon  and  conduct 
us  to  his  presence  on  high,  is  welcome.  When 
he  is  absent,  a  vacuum  is  left  which  the  whole  uni- 
verse cannot  fill.  All  comfort  withers  and  dies. 
The  least  adversity  or  cross  is  insupportable. 

He  Avho  loves  God  according  to  the  measure  of 
his  capacity  is  as  hajipy  as  his  nature  will  admit. 
It  is  the  same  bliss  as  Eden  afforded.  "  It  is," 
says  Jeremy  Taylor,  "  the  image  and  little  repre- 
sentation of  heaven  ;  it  is  beatitude  in  picture,  or 
rather  the  infancy  and  beginnings  of  glory."  In 
Paradise,   where    Adam    dwelt    in     innocence    and 


PAllADISE     KESTOKED.  223 

peace,  this  was  the  supreme  law  —  "Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and 
with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with 
all  thy  strength,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 
This  law  he  perfectly  kept.  In  the  Happy  Islands 
it  was  put  into  their  minds  and  written  on  their 
hearts,  and  implanted  so  deep  within  that  it  could 
not  be  easily  effaced.  "With  the  restoration  of  this 
law,  and  its  perfect  observance  by  the  redeemed 
race  who  there  dwelt,  came  back  the  holiness  and 
the  consequent  bliss  of  Paradise.  This  is  the  old 
commandment,  and  the  new  commandment,  and 
the  sum  of  all  the  divine  commandments.  It  is 
the  whole  law  and  the  prophets.  It  reduces  to 
its  ultimate  analysis  the  whole  duty  of  all  moral 
intelligences.  It  is  love  alone  that  can  give  value 
to  faith,  and  all  outward  deeds  and  observances. 
Without  it  they  are  worthless.  (1  Cor.  xiii.  1-3.) 
All  other  Christian  graces  are  only  different  forms 
of  love.  Under  proper  circumstances,  and  at  a 
fitting  opportunity,  it  becomes  patience,  or  meek- 
ness, or  chastity,  or  temperance,  or  humility,  or 
self-denial,  or  zeal.  It  is  the  soul  of  every  virtue, 
the   substratum    of  every  moral    excellence.     Every 


224  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

holy  temper,  or  disposition,  or  rewardable  act  of 
obedience,  among  angels  or  men,  is  an  outgrowth 
from  this  root.  He  who  loves  xchat  he  ought,  and 
in  the  proper  degree,  will  be  right  and  acceptable 
to  God  in  every  thing  else.  Against  such  there 
is  no  law.  Sinai  itself  is  satisfied  and  approves. 
It  is  the  band  of  perfection,  and  the  fulfilling  of 
the  law. 

What  is  that  perfect  love  which  reigned  in  Par- 
adise, and  which  Christ  brought  to  earth  again 
from  heaven,  whither  it  had  fled  ?  For  as  Socrates 
brought  philosophy  from  heaven  to  dwell  with 
men,  so  Christ  brought  not  only  a  celestial  phi- 
losophy to  earth,  but  deposited  in  the  souls  of  his 
disciples  a  celestial  love,  which  has  dwelt  famil- 
iarly with  them  ever  since.  Perfect  love  is  sincere 
love,  true  love,  love  from  the  bottom  of  the  heart. 
Dissembled  love  is  like  painted  fire,  which  is  only 
a  flame  in  appearance.  Perfect  love  is  lodged  in 
the  inmost  centre  of  the  heart,  below  all  other  loves. 
It  is  perpetual  and  constant.  It  is  not  like  an  in- 
termittent spring,  sometimes  overflowing,  and  then 
its  waters  sinking  out  of  sight ;  it  does  not  come 
and  go  like  the  tide,    but    ever    flows    onward   like 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  225 

a  majestic  river.  If  it  should  cease  for  a  moment, 
it  would  not  be  perfect.  It  is  like  the  holy  fire 
of  the  temple  which  the  priest  kept  continually 
burning.  It  is  not  characterized  by  violence,  like 
a  passion,  but  is  a  pure  and  tranquil  principle. 
It  is  not  merely  an  emotion,  but  a  fixed  state  of 
the  will.  It  may,  and  often  does,  rise  into  a  rap- 
turous emotion,  a  seraphic  flame,  but  may  exist 
not  as  an  emotional  state,  but  as  a  settled  bent 
of  the  will.  Emotions  are  as  variable  as  the  in- 
constant winds  ;  pure  love  is  as  fixed  as  the  poles 
of  the  earth,  or  the  pillars  of  heaven.  A  child 
may  love  his  father,  or  a  parent  may  love  his  son, 
when  he  is  not  even  thinking  of  him.  Other 
thoughts  fill  his  mind,  other  cares  occupy  his 
Avhole  attention.  Yet  love  never  ceases  for  a  mo- 
ment. As  soon  as  the  thought  of  the  endeared 
object  gains  admittance,  then  love  is  felt.  Before, 
it  existed  as  a  state  of  the  will,  ready  to  rise  into 
an  emotion  when  occasion  permitted.  The  highest 
degree  of  love  carries  the  will  with  it,  and  may 
exist  without  feeling,  just  as  the  highest  degree 
of  faith  is  knowing  without  seeing. 

In  the  Happy  Islands  there  reigned  supreme  love. 


226  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

If  there  be  in  the  universe  any  thing  which  we 
love  as  much  or  more  than  God,  any  thing  we 
more  highly  prize,  our  love  is  defective,  and  we 
have  seen  an  end  of  its  perfection.  In  a  qualified 
sense,  perfect  love  is  loving  God  alone.  All  other 
love  is  so  small  in  comparison,  so  feeble  in  de- 
gree, as  to  seem  notliing.  The  love  of  God  has 
swallowed  up  all  other  love.  Every  thing  else  is 
loved  in  him,  and  for  his  sake.  In  Paradise  man 
loved  every  thing  that  was  morally  beautiful  and 
excellent,  and  which  was  a  ray  from  God  ;  yet  the 
love  which  Adam  bore  to  his  i\Iakcr  was  above 
all.  St.  Paul  stands  forth  as  the  representative  of 
all  the  pure  in  heart  when  he  says,  "  Yea,  I  count 
all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord."  (Phil.  iii.  8.) 
Such  a  love  gives  all,  to  find  all  again  in  God. 

Perfect  love  is  grateful  love.  It  is  the  most 
acceptable  gift  we  can  offer  in  return  for  the  un- 
numbered blessings  of  Providence  and  grace.  The 
soul  where  pure  love  reigns  goes  forth  in  thank- 
fulness to  its  divine  Benefactor  for  all  his  mercies, 
for  all  those  precious  emanations  from  him  which 
we    have    enjoyed.     It   loves   him   for   his   amazing 


7?AE,ADISE     EESTOIiED.  227 

goodness  to  us.  It  traces  every  good  an  perfect 
gift  back  to  the  Father  of  lights.  In  him  it  finds 
the  fountain  of  life,  of  power,  of  wisdom,  and  of 
bliss,  and  the  more  it  values  the  gifts,  the  more  it 
loves  the  Giver.  This  gratitude,  though  it  has 
reference  to  the  gifts  of  God  to  us,  is  not  selfish. 
As  Mr.  Hervey  has  said,  "  There  is  something  in 
it  noble,  disinterested,  and  generously  devout."  It 
existed  in  Paradise  when  man  came  pure  from  the 
hand  of  his  Maker  ;  it  will  be  perpetuated  in 
heaven,  where  God  is  all  and  in  all,  and  where  it 
glows  in  the  whole  angelic  mind,  and  bursts  forth 
in  anthems  of  loftiest  praise.  Grateful  love  in  the 
perfected  heart  becomes  ceaseless  praise.  Just  as 
the  distant  waterfall,  in  the  silence  of  the  night, 
continually  murmurs  its  song  to  the  stars  above, 
so  the  ear  of  Qod  forever  hears  the  low  breathings 
of  grateful  praise  proceeding  from  the  heart  where 
perfect  love  reigns.  This  form  of  love  ought  to 
be  stronger  in  the  Christian  heart  than  it  was  in 
the  primal  Paradise.  Adam  never  felt  in  Eden  the 
glow  and  rapture  of  the  love  that  fills  the  heart 
where  much  has  been  forgiven.  The  pardon  of 
many    offences,    which    deserved    death,    binds    the 


228  THE     HAPPY     ISLAjSTDS,     OK 

soul  to  its  merciful  Redeemer  in  stronger  ties  than 
creation  did  or  could.  He  loves  much  to  whom 
much  is  forgiven,  is  a  saying  of  Christ  based  upon 
a  deep  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  our  spiritual 
being.  Look  at  the  woman  in  the  house  of  Simon 
the  Pharisee.  (Luke  vii.  3G-47.)  Deeply  wicked 
had  she  been,  notoriously  vicious  had  been  her 
life.  Her  "  offence  was  rank,  and  smelled  to 
heaven."  But  at  length  she  began  to  feel  a  sense 
of  alienation  from  God,  and  was  pained  at  the 
sight  of  the  abyss  which  her  sins  had  opened  be- 
tween her  and  the  Holy  One.  She  felt  the  bitter 
pangs  of  repentance,  and  an  intense  longing  for 
salvation.  Convinced  of  sin,  groaning  under  its 
crushing  weight,  and  hoping  to  obtain  balm  for 
her  wounded  heart,  she  threw  herself  at  the  feet 
of  Jesus,  moistened  them  with  her  tears,  wiped 
them  with  her  hair,  and  anointed  them  with  the 
costly  ointment.  Attracted  thus  to  Jesus  for  rest 
to  her  burdened  soul,  and  deliverance  from  her 
uneasy  craving  for  spiritual  peace,  he  lifted  from 
her  heart  the  mountain  of  despair,  pronouncing  her 
sins,  which  were  many,  all  forgiven,  and  blotting 
out,  as    a    thick    cloud,  her    transgressions.     When 


\ 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  229 

recovered  from  that  moral  wreck,  how  glowing  was 
her  love  !  It  was  such  as  Adam  felt  not  in  Eden. 
The  greater  her  sins  had  been,  the  more  profound 
had  been  her  desire  for  redemption,  the  more  she 
valued  the  gift  of  pardon,  and  the  more  ardent 
was  her  love  to  the  great  Restorer.  She  loved 
much,  for  a  great  debt  had  been  forgiven  her. 
This  is  a  law  of  our  nature.  To  rescue  from  a 
great  evil  is  more  highly  prized  than  the  bestowal 
of  a  great  good,  without  any  previous  experience 
of  evil.  God  has  bestowed  upon  us  as  much  as  he 
did  upon  Adam,  and  the  pardon  of  sin  besides. 
With  us  the  free  gift  is  of  many  offences  unto 
justification  of  life.  The  pardoned  and  sanctified 
sinner  is  bound  to  God  by  the  most  endearing 
ties.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  St.  Paul  loved 
the  Lord  with  as  glowing  a  love  as  ever  Adam 
felt  in  Paradise.  Where  sin  abounded  grace  did 
much  more  abound.  That  which  was  evil  was 
overruled  for  good ;  yet  it  was  a  good  which  the 
resources  of  infinite  wisdom  might,  perhaps,  have 
reached  by  a  different  route. 

Perfect  love  has  also   respect   unto    degree.     All 
good    proceeds   from   God,    who   alone   is   good   in 
20 


230  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

himself.  His  goodness  is  inherent  in  his  self- 
existing  nature,  and  is  not  derived.  Created  minds 
are  not  equally  receptive  of  the  divine  good,  and 
have  not  an  equal  capacity  of  exercising  love. 
But  the  law  is  adapted  to  the  various  capacities 
of  created  minds.  Its  language  is,  "  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  strength,"  or 
with  all  thy  power  of  exercising  affection.  This 
is  demanded  of  the  child,  the  peasant,  the  philos- 
opher, of  Adam  in  Paradise,  of  every  angel  before 
the  throne.  Each  is  to  love  God  according  to  the 
measure  of  his  capacity.  Perfect  love  is  love  dif- 
fused through  our  whole  being.  Every  other  emo- 
tion of  the  heart  is  tinged  with  it,  and  pervaded 
by  it  ;  it  is  the  warp  and  woof  of  every  other 
feeling.  The  life  of  such  a  soul  is  bound  up  in 
the  same  bundle  of  life  with  the  Lord  its  God. 
Love  arrests  every  fugitive  desire,  pervades  it  with 
itself,  and  fixes  it  upon  the  infinite  Good.  It 
erects  a  chapel  in  the  heart,  and  there  offers  cease- 
less prayer.  The  heart  desires  God  above  every 
thing  else ;  in  fact  there  is  nothing  in  earth  or 
heaven  it  desires  besides  him,  or  separate  from 
him  ;     and    thus    perfect    love    becomes    perpetual 


PAKADISE     KESTOKED.  231 

praj'^er.  (1  Thess.  v.  17.)  Prayer  is  no  longer  an 
effort,  a  task,  a  labor,  but  a  spontaneity,  a  life, 
and  as  ceaseless  as  the  pulsations  of  the  heart. 
As  rivers  flow  towards  the  ocean,  as  fire  ascending: 
seeks  the  sun,  so  love  rises  to  its  Source,  and 
breathes  out  itself  in  unceasing  prayer.  Love, 
hidden  in  the  depth  of  our  being,  prays  even  when 
the  mind  is  occupied  with  other  things.  It  cre- 
ates a  constant  tendency  of  the  spirit  towards 
God,  a  kind  of  divine  polarity  of  the  soul.  The 
whole  life  is  prayer,  one  constant  flame  of  devo- 
tion. Hence  it  was  the  remark  of  St.  Augustine, 
that  "  he  who  loves  much  prays  much,  and  he 
who  loves  little  prays  little."  Christ  makes  such 
a  heart  his  constant  habitation.  The  holy  flame 
which  perpetually  burned  in  the  heart  in  the 
original  Paradise,  and  which  sin  quenched,  that 
divine  Promethean  spark,  Christ  has  again  called 
down  from  heaven  to  animate  our  lifeless  clay. 
For  he  came  to  bring  fire  on  the  earth. 

Perfect  love  is  the  love  of  God  for  his  own  sake 
as  the  most  perfect  Being.  "Wc  love  the  Lord  be- 
cause he  first  loved  us.  "  I  love  the  Lord,"  says 
the    Psalmist,    "  because    he    hath    heard    my  voice 


232  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

and  my  supplications."  (Ps.  cxvi.  1.)  The  con- 
sideration of  God's  goodness  and  bounty  to  us  in 
his  providence  and  grace,  and  especially  the  great 
love  wherewith  he  hath  loved  us  in  our  redemp- 
tion by  the  cross,  may  be,  and  most  commonly  is, 
the  spring  of  our  love  to  him,  rather  than  a  con- 
sideration of  the  infinite  excellence  of  his  character 
and  nature.  But  this  is  only  the  beginning,  and 
not  the  perfection,  of  love.  The  soul  may  and 
ought  to  love  God  for  his  own  consummate  excel- 
lency and  moral  beauty,  independent  of  all  his 
dealings,  and  above  all  the  consolations  of  his 
grace.  May  not  a  parent  love  a  child,  or  a  wife 
a  husband,  independent  of  all  their  faults  or  good 
deeds?  The  being  is  abstracted  from  all  his  acci- 
dents, and  loved  for  his  own  sake.  Thus  God 
loves  the  sinner,  while  he  hates  his  sins.  Thus 
we  are  commanded  to  love  our  enemies.  The 
man  is  placed  in  front  of  all  his  evil  doings,  and 
his  humanity,  abstracted  from  all  the  evils  which 
do  not  belong  to  its  essence,  is  loved.  We  love 
the  idea  of  man  which  that  person  so  imperfectly 
exhibits.  Thus  we  become  followers  of  God,  as 
dear  children,  who  maketh  his    sun  to  rise  on  the 


PARADISE     KESTOKED.  233 

evil  and  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  upon  the  just 
and  unjust.  God  loves  in  the  wicked  only  that 
which  is  the  work  of  his  own  hands,  the  pure 
humanity  Vi^ithout  the  unseemly  accretions  which 
sin  has  made  to  cleave  to  it.  When  we  thus  love 
our  fellow-men,  we  obey  the  command,  "  Be  ye 
perfect,  even  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect." 
(Matt.  v.  43-48.)  For  that  precept  has  reference 
to  the  love  of  our  enemies.  So  the  soul  may  love 
the  pure  divinity  of  God,  the  simple  being  of  the 
Deity,  abstracted  from  all  his  dealings  with  us. 
This  love  of  the  absolutely  perfect  One,  for  his 
own  sake,  does  not  exclude  the  lower  forms  of 
love,  but  includes  them  all;  just  as  a  whole  is 
made  up  of  all  its  parts,  or  a  circle  of  all  its 
segments.  We  love  God,  not  merely  because  he 
is  a  means  to  our  happiness,  which  places  too 
slight  a  value  upon  him  and  degrades  him,  but 
because  he  is  what  he  is.  The  more  mature  our 
love  is,  and  the  nearer  it  approaches  the  love  of 
the  celestial  world,  the  less  self  is  regarded,  and 
we  seek  in  God  not  his  gifts,  but  himself.  Abe- 
lard  well  remarks,  (A.  D.  1108,)  "Whoever  seeks 
in  God,  not  himself,  but  something  else,  does  not 
20 '^ 


234  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

in  reality  love  him,  but  that  other  thing. 
O  that  we  might  have  so  upright  a  disposition  of 
heart  towards  the  Lord,  as  to  love  him  far  more 
on  his  own  account,  because  he  is  so  good  in 
himself,  than  on  account  of  the  benefits  which  he 
brings  to  us !  So  would  our  righteousness  render 
to  him  what  he  claims  ;  that,  because  he  is  su- 
premely good,  he  should  be  supremely  loved  by 
all.  Fear  and  hope  of  reward  are  but  the  first 
step  in  piety.  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  hegin- 
ning  of  wisdom,  but  the  perfection  of  it  is  the 
pure  love  of  God  for  his  own  sake." 

There  are  several  forms  of  fear,  which  are  the 
offspring  of  sin  and  the  root  of  much  of  human 
misery,  which  are  cast  out  by  perfect  love.  "There 
is  no  fear  in  love,  but  perfect  love  casteth  out 
fear."  (1  John  iv.  18.)  Here  are  two  different 
mental  conditions,  which  cannot  coexist  in  the 
same  person.  Much  of  the  misery  of  life  is  refer- 
able to  fear.  There  is  no  emotion  that  more  dis- 
turbs the  soul,  and  is  so  opposite  to  that  calm 
repose  and  tranquillity  which  are  characteristic  of 
the  purified  nature.  It  is  truly  said  by  St.  John, 
that    it    hath    torment.     Did    I   wish    to   punish   a 


PARADISE     RESTOKED.  235 

person  as  severely  as  possible,  I  would  subject 
him  to  the  dominion  of  fear  ;  I  would  keep  him  in 
a  constant  state  of  alarm  and  apprehension  of  some 
evil.  There  should  be  in  his  heart  also  a  fear- 
ful looking-for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation 
which  shall  devour  the  adversaries.  Fear  exists  in 
many  different  forms.  It  assumes  Protean  shapes. 
It  is  sometimes  anxiety  about  the  future,  a  dis' 
tracting  carefulness  about  the  things  of  to-morrow. 
Perfect  love  banishes  this  from  the  heart  by  cre- 
ating a  supreme  desire  for  God.  It  asks  for  noth- 
ing but  the  object  loved ;  it  wants  nothing  but 
the  unchanging  Good.  In  the  possession  of  him 
all  the  needs  of  the  spirit  are  met.  It  casts  out 
the  fear  of  man  ;  that  is,  a  slavish  dread  of  losing 
the  good  opinion  of  our  fellow-beings,  and  an  ap- 
prehension of  personal  violence.  A  consciousness 
of  perfect  safety  is  connected  with  holy  love.  It 
is  convinced  that  nothing  can  harm  us  if  we  are 
followers  of  the  good  One.  It  puts  the  soul  not 
only  in  a  position  of  safety,  but  of  security,  which 
is  a  freedom  from  all  apprehension  of  evil.  It 
rests  upon  the  assurance  of  Christ  that  all  things 
work    together    for    good    to    them    that   love    God. 


236  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

(Rom.  viii.  28.)  Love,  like  tlie  magic  touch,  of 
Midas,  changes  all  objects  and  events  not  merely 
into  gold,  but  into  blessings  more  valuable  than 
gold  that  perisheth.  It  is  calm  in  danger.  It  is 
the  foundation  of  true  courage.  It  looks  peace- 
fully upon  the  storm  of  passion  and  persecution 
which  howls  around,  like  a  rainbow  over  a  cata- 
ract, watching  the  madness  of  the  scene.  It  at- 
taches but  a  slight  value  to  the  applause  of  the 
multitude.  It  is  idle  wind,  empty  air.  The 
frowns  of  the  world  are  nothing,  and  the  soul 
weeps  in  secret  jilaces  at  the  vanity  of  popular 
praise.  The  favor  of  God  is  all.  In  the  perfected 
heart  the  fear  of  death  yields  to  love,  though  the 
love  of  life,  which  is  quite  another  thing,  may 
still  linger.  Death  is  no  more  a  destroying  angel, 
clothed  with  all  the  attributes  of  terror,  like  the 
dreadful  Samael  of  the  Hebrew  popular  belief.  He 
is  no  more  a  king  of  terrors,  —  crushing  heart- 
strings, revelling  in  groans  and  pangs,  and  delight- 
ing in  blood,  like  the  Odin  of  the  northern 
mythology,  whose  name  signifies  the  Mad  or  Furi- 
ous One.  Love  ends  this  cruel  bondage  to  the 
fear    of  death.     Death   is    viewed    as    the    point   of 


PARABISE     KESTORED.  237 

eternal  union  with  God,  the  birth  into  a  higher 
sphere  of  life.  The  fear  of  the  wrath  to  come  is 
swallowed  up  by  the  hope  of  glory.  The  perfected 
soul  no  more  fears  death  and  judgment  than  did 
our  first  parents  in  a  state  of  innocence.  It  serves 
God,  not  from  the  dread  of  his  wrath  and  the  fear 
of  hell,  which  may  find  place  in  the  heart  in  a 
low  stage  of  the  divine  life,  but  the  love  of  Christ 
constraineth.  That  which  is  supremely  loved  can- 
not be  feared,  nor  its  presence  dreaded.  Hence  a 
servile  fear  of  God,  which  is  the  effect  of  guilt, 
and  w'hich  clings  to  the  unsanctified  heart,  is 
absorbed  by  a  filial  confidence  and  affectionate 
familiarity.  The  idea  of  the  divine  presence  is 
painful  to  the  sinner,  and  the  world  has  been 
laboring  for  sixty  centuries  to  banish  the  Divinity 
from  the  universe.  He  is  too  near.  His  eye  looks 
out  from  the  darkness  and  troubles  them,  as  it 
did  the  Egyptians.  But  the  heart  where  perfect 
love  reigns  delights  in  the  divine  presence,  and 
feels  an  ineff"able  rapture  in  "  being  enclosed  in 
his  circle,  and  wrapped  up  in  the  lap  of  his  in- 
finite nature."  Love  removes  the  thunders  from 
the  brow  of  the   Deity,  and    places   there  a   smile. 


238  THE     II  APT  Y     ISLANDS,     Oil 

All  the  forms  of  fear  which  I  have  described  may 
exist  in  different  degrees.  The  scale  may  be  ex- 
pressed by  five  terms,  each  rising  above  the  other ; 
viz.,  fear,  dread,  terror,  fright,  and  horror.  But 
love  calms  our  fear  as  the  harp  of  David  calmed 
the  evil  demon  in  Saul.  It  is  like  the  whisper  of 
Christ  to  the  storm  upon  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  at 
the  sound  of  whose  creative  word  the  giant  bil- 
lows "  sank  like  sobbing  infants  to  their  rest." 
All  the  forms  of  fear,  which  are  the  offspring  of 
sin  and  black  night,  find  no  place  in  the  Happy 
Islands.  Instead  of  the  fear  that  hath  torment, 
there  was  the  calm  happiness  of  unbroken  fellow- 
ship with  God.  The  souls  of  the  people  are 
imbued  with  divine  love,  and  pervaded  with  calm- 
ness and  peace. 

While  walking  in  the  blissful  groves,  and  ex- 
ploring the  delightful  fields  of  this  island,  the 
soul  gained  a  deliverance  from  wandering  thoughts, 
especially  such  thoughts  as  wander  from  God,  and 
which  arise  from  evil  desires  and  passions.  Love 
lays  siege  to  the  stronghold  of  the  soul,  casts 
down  imaginations,  and  every  high  thing  that  ex- 
alteth    itself  against   the    knowledge    of    God,    and 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  239 

brings  into  captivity  every  thought  to  the  obedi- 
ence of  Christ.  In  the  imperfectly  sanctified  heart, 
the  thoughts  break  away  from  the  restraints  of 
grace,  and  roam  abroad,  whither  they  please,  like 
a  band  of  lawless  banditti.  But  in  the  higher 
position  of  Christian  life,  they  are  taken  captive, 
bound  with  chains  of  love,  and  laid  at  the  feet  of 
Christ.  As  we  naturally  think  of  that  we  most 
love,  God  becomes  in  the  sanctified  heart  the 
centre  of  its  thoughts.  It  requires  no  struggle  to 
keep  the  thoughts  from  straying  from  the  object 
of  supreme  love,  or  to  recall  them  when  they 
have  wandered.  They  are  fixed  in  their  orbit  by 
a  kind  of  spiritual  gravitation,  and  spontaneously 
revolve  around  their  proper  centre.  As  the  mag- 
netic needle,  when  it  has  been  drawn  aside  from 
its  proper  direction,  vibrates  for  a  moment  back 
and  forth,  and  then  settles  down  in  its  natural  posi- 
tion, pointing  to  the  polar  star,  so  the  mind  where 
perfect  love  dwells,  is  sometimes  occupied,  neces- 
sarily, with  other  thoughts  than  those  of  God  and 
heavenly  things ;  but  as  soon  as  it  is  left  to  itself 
it  becomes  fixed  upon  its  divine  centre.  It  re- 
quires   no   eff'ort  to  think  of  God,  but    demands    a 


240  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

volition  to  call  off  the  thoughts  from  him.  The 
whole  current  of  the  soul's  life  and  thought  flows 
in  the  direction  of  the  supreme  Good.  The  mo- 
ment the  spirit  is  unoccupied,  it  finds  itself  wrapped 
up  in  divine  contemplation.  Even  when  the  hands 
are  employed,  the  thoughts  are  with  him.  Some- 
times, in  its  weakness,  the  soul  almost  tires  of 
this  contemplation,  and  says,  with  the  spouse, 
"  Stay  me  with  flagons,  comfort  mc  with  apples, 
for  I  am  sick  of  love."  (Cant.  ii.  5.)  To  think 
of  any  thing  else  so  much  would  be  unendurable, 
and  the  soul  would  sink  under  it.  But  this  action 
is  rest.  The  thoughts  have  found  their  appro- 
priate centre,  and  their  proper  channel,  and  there 
the  highest  activity  is  the  sweetest  repose. 

A  state  which  had  been  apprehended  by  the 
mind,  and  ardently  craved,  but  never  realized,  I 
found  in  the  Happy  Islands,  especially  the  one  I 
was  now  exploring,  —  a  state  of  spontaneous  obe- 
dience, where  duty  is  not  a  load,  and  the  law  a 
galling  yoke,  —  where  the  soul  obeys  God,  just  as 
all  material  things  are  subject  to  their  several 
laws,  and  as  animals  and  plants  obey  the  instincts 
of  their  nature.     This    is    only  reached    by  perfect 


PAKADISE     KESXOIiED.  241 

love.  It  is  the  law  of  our  mental  nature,  tliat 
love  influences  the  'will  so  to  act  as  to  please  the 
object  loved.  Genuine  love  is  in  the  will.  It  is 
called  benevolence,  (from  bene,  well,  and  volo,  to 
Avish,)  or  good  willing.  In  this  sense  it  may  have 
God  for  its  object  as  well  as  man.  Says  Christ, 
"  If  ye  love  me  ye  will  keep  my  commandments ;  " 
because  perfect  love  is  that  position  of  the  will 
which  constitutes  the  essence  of  obedience.  It 
contains  the  living  germ  of  all  good  actions.  The 
obedience  rendered  to  God  by  those  who  dwell  in 
love,  is  not  extorted  from  unwilling  hearts,  and 
chosen  as  the  less  of  two  evils,  but  it  comes  of 
its  own  accord,  without  any  outward  pressure.  It 
is  not  a  chain  which  the  soul  reluctantly  drags, 
but  a  wreath  of  freedom  which  it  rejoices  to  wear. 
We  do  freely  Avhat  it  is  our  nature  to  do.  It  is 
as  much  the  nature  of  perfect  love  to  obey  as  it 
is  of  water  to  descend  an  inclined  plane.  Such 
an  obedience  is  not  work  or  toil,  but  rest.  The 
soul  again  flnds  its  native  element,  and  moves  vi- 
vaciously and  happily  in  it. 

Love  is  one  of  the  most   powerful   principles  in 
the   universe.     Light,  which  is  one  of  the  first  of 
21 


242  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

created  things,  and  which  may  properly  be  called 
the  shadow  of  God,  exerts  a  noiseless  but  potent 
influence  in  the  vegetable  world.  With  more  than 
an  angel's  strength,  it  raises  to  the  surface  the 
millions  of  vital  germs  in  the  seeds  buried  be- 
neath the  soil,  and  bears  upward  towards  heaven 
the  tall  trees  of  the  forest.  It  paints  the  face  of 
nature  with  its  infinite  variety  of  coloring,  and 
reveals  unnumbered  worlds,  in  the  deep  abysses 
of  space.  Gravity  binds  every  atom  and  every 
world  to  every  other  atom  and  world  in  the 
universe,  so  that  there  is  nothing  isolated ;  but 
all  worlds,  and  systems  of  worlds,  are  bound  to- 
gether by  its  mysterious  chain,  and  move  in  sub- 
lime harmony  around  their  common  centre.  But 
love  is  a  greater  force  in  the  universe  than  either. 
It  is  the  bond  of  xmion  between  all  holy  intelli- 
gences, who  are  more  numerous  than  the  worlds 
which  have  been  scattered,  with  such  amazing 
profusion,  through  the  regions  of  empty  space.  It 
is  the  principle  of  cohesion  in  the  moral  universe, 
and  prevents  its  crmnbling  ;  and  conjoins  the  whole 
to  God.  The  innumerable  company  of  angels,  and 
the  millions  of  the  redeemed,  are  vmited  by  it  into 


PAKADISE    EESTOKED.  2-13 

one  family,  with  Christ's  exalted  humanity  for  its 
head  and  centre.  It  is  the  principle  of  unity  in 
the  midst  of  the  infinite  variety  which  exists  in 
the  spiritual  world.  Under  its  influence  all  con- 
tradictions are  harmonized,  all  opposites  meet  and 
blend,  and  all  enmities  fade  away  like  evening 
shadows  before  a  rising  sun.  By  its  silent  and 
irresistible  attraction,  it  brings  into  one  concordant 
society  or  community  infants  and  seraphs,  redeemed 
sinners,  and  the  angels  who  have  kept  their  first 
estate,  Jews  and  Gentiles,  simple  peasants  and 
learned  philosophers.  The  learned  and  pious  Dr. 
Cudworth,  as  he  felt  its  rapture  in  his  heart,  ex- 
claimed, "  O,  divine  love,  the  sweet  harmony  of 
souls  !  the  music  of  angels  !  the  joy  of  God's  own 
heart  I  the  very  darling  of  his  bosom  !  the  source 
of  true  happiness  I  the  pure  quintessence  of  heaven  ! 
that  which  reconciles  the  jarring  principles  of  the 
world !  that  which  melts  men's  hearts  into  one 
another."  (Sermon  on  1  John  ii.  3,  4.)  Love  is  of 
God,  and  he  who  loveth  is  born  of  God,  and  know- 
eth  God.  It  is  a  pure  emanation  of  the  Divine 
into  finite  minds.  It  comes  from  God  and  leads 
to    God.      Imagine    a     rcKion    somewhere    in    the 


244  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

world,  some  fertile  island  in  the  ocean  of  hu- 
man depravit}%  some  green  oasis  in  the  vast 
Sahara  of  earth,  where  love  reigns  in  every 
heart  ;  just  as  certainly  as  things  which  are  equal 
to  the  same  thing  are  equal  to  one  another,  so 
he  who  loves  God  will  love  his  brother  also. 
Where  pure  Christian  love  reigns,  Paradise  is 
restored.  Such  was  society  in  the  Happy  Islands. 
God  was  the  centre  of  affection,  where  all  souls, 
like  the  rays  of  a  circle,  met  and  blended  in  him. 
Afflictions  were  encountered  by  the  inhabitants, 
for  they  had  not  yet  reached  that  higher  sphere 
of  existence,  where  sighing  grief  shall  weep  no 
more ;  but  each  one  felt  his  brother's  sigh,  and 
lightened  the  load  by  bearing  a  part.  It  is  the 
nature  of  love  to  desire  to  communicate  its  own 
happiness  to  others.  In  the  Happy  Islands  it  is 
the  delight  of  all  to  communicate  their  enjoyments 
and  beatitudes  to  each  other,  so  that  the  more 
there  are,  the  greater  is  the  happiness  of  the 
place.  They  are  pervaded  with  the  same  divine 
love,  flowing  from  God,  which  makes  angels  minis- 
tering spirits  to  the  heirs  of  salvation.  Living  on 
the  borders  of  heaven,  the  love  of  heaven  fills  their 


PARADISE     KESTORED.  245 

souls.  Each  can  say,  with  the  dying  Payson, 
"  The  nearer  I  get  to  heaven,  the  more  I  feel  of 
its  benevolence,  until  now  I  feel  an  intense  desire 
to  wring  out  to  every  human  being  a  full  cup  of 
blessedness."  The  spirit  of  the  devoted  Backus 
was  here  the  spirit  of  all.  When  informed  by  his 
physician  that  he  could  not  live  half  an  hour,  he 
said,  "  Then  take  me  from  my  bed,  place  me  upon 
my  knees,  and  let  me  die  praying  for  the  world." 
The  very  misery  in  which  the  world  has  been  in- 
volved by  sin  has  given  occasion  to  the  highest 
exhibitions  of  Christian  love.  Love  has  gone  out  to 
search  among  the  ruins  of  our  fallen  humanity  for 
objects  which  it  may  bless.  It  seeks  to  bind  up 
the  hurts  of  human  nature,  and  to  restore  the 
wreck.  It  especially  yearns  over  the  deep  wretch- 
edness of  souls  destroyed  by  sin,  and  sundered 
from  God  by  the  rebellion  of  their  will  against 
his  government.  It  brings  the  wants  of  the  whole 
world  to  the  mercy-seat,  and  makes  daily  mention 
of  them  in  prayer.  The  soul,  in  its  secret  aspira- 
tions to  heaven,  addresses  the  world's  Redeemer 
in  language  like  the  following :  — 
21  ^ 


246  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

"Ah,  reign,  wherever  man  is  found. 
My  Spouse,  beloved  and  divine  1 
Then  am  I  rich,  and  then  abound. 
When  every  human  heart  is  thine. 

A  thousand  sorrows  pierce  my  soul, 
To  think  that  all  are  not  thine  own ; 

Ah,  be  adored  from  pole  to  pole ;  — 

Where  is  thy  zeal  ?    Arise  !     Be  known." 

The  love  which  here  reigned  went  far  towards 
restoring  the  lost  harmony  of  the  outward  world. 
External  nature  felt  its  influence.  There  is  a 
closer  connection  between  the  world  of  mind  and 
the  outward  world  than  many  suppose.  The  ma- 
terial creation  is  the  outside  circle  of  created  things ; 
it  is  the  rough  bark  of  the  universe ;  the  world  of 
mind  lies  farther  inward,  towards  the  vital  centre. 
When  love  and  purity  reign  in  that  centre,  its 
influence  extends  to  the  circumference,  and  every 
thing  there  feels  its  power.  The  flowers  bloom 
with  increased  lustre,  and  exhale  a  sweeter  fra- 
grance, when  cultivated  by  the  hand  of  love.  It 
deepens  the  harmonies  of  nature.  It  joins  again 
the  sundered  links  in  creation's  chain.  It  binds 
the  human  soul  to  God,  and  the  animal  world  to 
man.     In    the    Happy    Islands,    the    enmity    of  the 


PARADISE     KESTORED.  247 

brute  creation  had  ceased,  having  been  charmed 
into  peace  by  love.  Here  was  realized  the  truth, 
at  bottom,  in  the  fable  of  Orpheus'  lyre ;  of  whom 
it  was  said,  that  when  he  played,  the  rivers  ceased 
to  flow,  the  rocks,  and  trees,  and  animals  drew 
near  to  listen.  Such  wonders  did  love  here  ac- 
complish. It  bound  the  animal  races  in  its  golden 
chain.  There  were  no  more  seen  ravenous  beasts, 
or  venomous  reptiles.  Every  poisonous  weed  was 
expelled  from  the  land.  No  fiery  simoom  swept 
its  pestilential  blast  over  the  fields.  Here  was  no 
poverty,  for  the  lack  of  one  was  supplied  by  the 
abundance  of  others.  No  selfish  heart  became  the 
sepulchre  of  God's  blessings,  but  they  were  dis- 
pensed abroad  like  a  shower  of  gold.  I  noticed 
that  life  was  greatly  prolonged  in  this  blessed  clime, 
and  diseases  were  fewer  than  in  any  other  part 
of  the  globe.  Many  causes  contributed  to  this. 
A  large  portion  of  the  diseases  which  assail  us 
have  their  origin  in  tho  mind.  "It  is  the  great 
art  of  life  to  manage  well  the  restless  mind." 
There  is  a  basis  of  truth  in  the  prayer  of  Charles 
Wesley  :  — 


248  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OB. 

"Let  life  immortal  seize  my  clay, 
Let  love  refine  my  blood." 

Here  love  had  harmonized  the  passions,  controlled 
the  appetites,  brought  the  propensities  into  their 
proper  sphere  of  action,  and  restrained  their  ex- 
cesses, and  more  than  all,  had  banished  melancholy. 
The  latter  no  longer  spread  a  pall  of  sackcloth 
over  all  earthly  enjoyments.  It  gave  place  to  a 
divine  cheerfulness,  or  -what  Jeremy  Taylor  calls 
"  spiritual  mirth."  Chrysostom  describes  melan- 
choly as  "  a  cruel  torture  to  the  soul,  consuming 
the  body  and  gnawing  the  very  heart."  In  the 
Happy  Islands,  God  was  the  joy  of  the  soul  and 
the  health  of  the  countenance.  (Ps.  xlii.  11.)  It 
is  the  work  of  Christ,  the  great  Physician,  and  the 
Life  of  the  world,  to  heal  every  form  of  mental 
disease,  and  thus  to  diminish  the  ailments  of  the 
body.  The  body  has  no  life  in  itself,  but  lives 
from  the  spirit  which  has  put  it  on.  Hence  the 
mind  in  its  different  states  is  the  body's  health 
or  malady.  We  can  say,  with  reference  to  the 
evil  influence  of  the  passions  upon  health  and  lon- 
gevity, in  the  language  of  a  writer  in  the  Edin- 
burgh   Encyclopedia,     "  Many    fall    a    sacrifice    to 


PARADISE     KESTOKED.  249 

anger,  grief,  or  fear ;  and  each  of  these  passions 
may  boast  of  having  killed  their  tens  of  thousands. 
Anger  ruffles  the  mind,  hurries  on  the  circulation, 
and  disorders  the  whole  animal  and  vital  func- 
tions ;  and  when  carried  to  an  extreme,  often  ter- 
minates in  fury  and  madness.  Fear  and  anxiety, 
by  depressing  the  spirits,  not  only  dispose  us  to 
disease,  but  often  render  those  diseases  fatal  which 
an  undaunted  mind  would  overcome.  Grief  is 
more  destructive  and  more  permanent  in  its  effects 
than  either.  When  indulged,  it  often  changes  into 
a  fixed  melancholy,  which  preys  upon  the  system, 
and  wastes  the  constitution.  Experience,  indeed, 
shows  that  many  perish  from  despondency,  who,  if 
they  had  preserved  their  vigor  of  spirits,  might 
have  survived  many  years  longer.  Neither  the 
irritable,  who  are  agitated  by  trifles,  nor  the  mel- 
ancholy, who  magnify  the  evils  of  life,  can  expect 
to  attain  to  a  great  age.  It  is  the  interest,  there- 
fore, as  well  as  the  duty,  of  all,  who  have  any 
regard  to  their  health,  to  keep  these  sources  of 
disease  and  misery  under  due  subjection ;  and 
nothing  can  be  more  conducive  to  this,  than  to 
regulate  our  lives    by  the    dictates  of  religion   and 


250  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

virtue.  A  cheerful  temper  is  the  sure  attendant 
of  true  religion ;  and  cheerfulness  is  one  of  the 
principal  characteristics  of  longevity."  When  we 
consider  that  all  these  passions  arc  cast  out  by- 
perfect  love,  it  is  not  strange  that  in  the  Happy 
Islands  there  seemed  to  be  a  realization  of  the 
vision  of  the  prophet,  that  "  there  shall  be  no 
more  thence  an  infant  of  days,  nor  an  old  man 
that  hath  not  fulfilled  his  days ;  for  as  the  days 
of  a  tree  are  the  days  of  my  people,  and  mine 
elect  shall  long  enjoy  the  work  of  their  hands." 
(Isa.  Ixv.  20,  22.)  Trees,  when  growing  undis- 
turbed, in  a  favorable  soil  and  climate,  live  to  a 
great  age.  They  outlive  kingdoms.  De  Candolle 
found  an  olive  seven  hundred  years  of  age,  a 
cedar  of  Lebanon  eight  hundred,  an  oak  fifteen 
hundred,  a  yew  twenty-eight  hundred  and  eighty, 
a  taxodium  from  four  thousand  to  six  thousand 
years.  But  the  days  of  God's,  people  were  to  be 
like  the  days  of  a  tree ;  that  is,  life  should  be 
greatly  prolonged.  In  the  Happy  Islands,  univer- 
sal cleanliness,  and  a  love  of  the  beautiful,  from 
which  it  proceeded,  had  barred  the  approach  of 
the    pestilence ;     and   plenty,    which    crowned     the 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  251 

hills  and  valleys,  set  famine  at  defiance.  Here 
Christianity,  which  had  full  sway,  had  taught  the 
people  a  reverence  for  the  body  as  the  temple  of 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  had  created  a  sympathy  for  all 
forms  of  suffering ;  and  had  caused  an  advance  of 
all  the  noble  sciences,  on  which  was  reared  an  art 
of  medicine,  that  went  forth  to  alleviate,  if  not  to 
heal,  all  forms  of  pain  and  disease.  Guided  by 
Christian  science,  the  healing  plant  came  at  once 
to  the  aid  of  the  sick  and  weak. 

Here  I  found  a  place  at  last  where  the  people 
never  died.  Never,  until  I  reached  this  blissful 
abode,  had  I  sat  down  contented  under  the  decree 
of  Providence  that  men  should  die,  that  life  should 
be  a  mere  flash  of  existence,  a  spark  that  should 
fly  upward  and  expire.  Here  the  yearning  of  my 
soul  to  find  a  land  where  death  should  never 
come  was  satisfied.  I  do  not  mean  that  the 
people  of  this  blissful  clime  never  went  out  of  the 
world.  It  is  probable  that  Adam  and  his  pos- 
terity would  have  gone  out  of  the  world,  had  he 
never  sinned.  He  would  have  put  off"  these  "  cor- 
poreal impediments,"  that  adapt  the  spirit  to  an 
existence    in    the   natural   world,    and   would   have 


252  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

passed  into  the  celestial  sphere,  where  the  soul  is 
freed  from  the  material  limitations  of  time  and 
space.  But  death  is  not  so  much  the  going  out 
of  the  world,  as  Jeremy  Taylor  has  truly  remarked, 
as  it  is  the  manner  of  going.  To  go  with  fear 
and  trembling,  like  a  slave  scourged  to  a  dungeon, 
—  to  be  forced  from  light  into  darkness,  and  chased 
out  of  the  world,  —  that  is  death.  The  gospel  has 
abolished  death,  and  brought  immortal  life  to  light. 
The  inhabitants  of  these  islands  realized  the  truth 
of  our  Saviour's  declaration  at  the  tomb  of  Laza- 
rus, that  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  him 
shall  never  die.  The  resurrection,  he  declared,  was 
ever  present  with  him.  "  I  am  the  resurrection 
and  the  life."  The  soul,  united  by  faith  to  its 
vital  source,  never  comes  under  the  power  of 
death.  The  curse  threatened  to  Adam  is  lifted 
from  their  condition.  Such  persons  do  not  really 
die.  The  body,  like  the  coach  which  brings  the 
traveller  to  his  home,  shall  go  to  the  gate  of  the 
heavenly  mansion,  but  shall  be  left  without,  while 
the  soul  alights  and  enters  into  rest.  So  peace- 
fully does  the  redeemed  spirit  soar  upward  to  its 
Source,  that  it  is  rather  a  translation  than  a  dying. 


PARADISE     RESTOKED.  253 

It  sinks  to  rest  in  the  bosom  of  the  infinite  Life 
and  Love,  as  gently  as  night  dews  descend  upon 
the  flower ;  nor  do  weary,  worn-out  winds  expire 
so  soft.     The  good  man  languishes  into  life. 

"  Calm  as  a  halcyon,  that  upon  the  deep 
Folds  slowly  its  white  winga,  and  fearless  falls  to  sleep." 

Death  in  the  Happy  Islands  Avas  not  the  king 
of  terrors,  but  was  only  a  walk  at  the  close  of 
day  through  a  shady  vale,  along  the  banks  of  life's 
river,  accompanied  and  supported  by  the  good 
Shepherd.  (Ps.  xxiii.  4.)  In  this  abode  of  love, 
the  graveyard  was  a  sleeping  place,  and  Immortal- 
ity walked  among  the  tombs  to  guard  the  peaceful 
slumberers.  Death  had  lost  his  sting,  and  the  soul 
had  gained  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  The  cemetery  here  was  "  God's-Acre,"  as 
the  Germans  expressively  term  it,  sowed  all  over 
amid  flowers  and  fragrant  shrubs,  that  chased  away 
the  gloom  of  death,  with  precious  seed,  which  shall 
spring  up  into  a  glorious  harvest  in  the  great  day 
of  redemption.  The  departure  of  holy  souls  from 
earth  is  not  dying,  but  transition  to  immortality. 
It  is  an  ascent  in  the  scale  of  being,  a  going  up 
22 


254  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

the  celestial  ladder  into  higher  degrees  of  life,  of 
wisdom,  and  of  love.  Hence  death  is  used  in  the 
New  Testament  as  the  symbol  of  the  highest  life. 
"  Ye    are    dead,  and    your    life    is    hid    with    Christ 

in  God." 

"  There  is  a  world  above, 

Where  parting  is  unknown, 

A  whole  eternity  of  love, 

Formed  for  the  good  alone  ; 

And  faith  beholds  the  dying  here 

Translated  to  that  happier  sphere. 

Thus  star  by  star  declines, 
Till  all  are  passed  away, 
As  morning  high  and  higher  shines, 
To  pure  and  perfect  day : 
Nor  sink  those  stars  in  empty  night; 
They  hide  themselves  in  heaven's  own  light." 

The  land  whither  I  had  come  to  reside  was  a 
land  of  hills  and  valleys,  which  drank  the  rain  of 
heaven,  which  in  "  soft  silence  shed  the  kindly 
shower;"  a  land  which  the  Lord  himself  cared  for, 
and  his  eyes  were  continually  upon  it  from  the 
beginning  of  the  year  even  unto  the  end  of  it. 
(Dent.  ii.  11,  12)  Yet  man  was  placed  here  to 
till  the  ground,  as  Adam  was  in  Paradise.  But 
having  no    artificial    wants    to    supply,  a  few  hours 


PARADISE     RESTOKED.  20D 

of  pleasant  labor  daily  were  sufRcicnt ;  and  tliey 
had  ample  time  for  intellectual  improvement,  for 
refined  social  intercourse,  and  for  the  worship  of 
God.  "Wherever  two  or  three  met  together,  cither 
m  their  dwellings  or  on  the  mountain  side,  or  in 
the  valley  on  the  river's  bank,  they  found  Jesus 
in  their  midst,  and  realized  that  it  was  good  to 
be  there.  Often  did  the  people  exclaim,  "  Behold, 
how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to 
dwell  together  in  unity  !  It  is  like  the  dew  of 
Hermon,  and  as  the  dew  that  descended  upon  the 
mountains  of  Zion  ;  for  there  the  Lord  commanded 
the  blessing,  even  life  forevermore."  (Ps.  cxxxiii. 
1.  2.) 

No  man  locked  his  dwelling  by  night ;  property 
left  by  the  road  sid.e  was  safe,  for  love  stood  sen- 
tinel upon  the  watchtower.  No  deadly  weapon 
had  ever  been  seen.  Peace  waved  her  olive  branch 
over  this  little  world  of  divine  order  and  harmony. 
No  ardent  warriors  met  "with  hateful  eyes;" 
there  was  no  shock  of  contending  armies,  like  the 
collision  of  two  icebergs  in  the  ocean.  The  crow 
never  waded  in  the  blood  of  the  slain,  and  war 
never  filled  the  land  with  the  wail  of  widows  and 


256  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

orphans.  No  nclgliborhood  broils  ever  occurred. 
Each,  one  lent  to  liim  that  asked,  hoping  to  re- 
ceive nothing  again.  No  one  wished  to  become 
rich  by  making  others  poor.  The  groan  of  the 
bondman  was  never  heard.  The  hire  of  the  la- 
borer, who  had  reaped  down  the  field,  was  not 
kept  back  by  fraud,  nor  did  his  cries  for  justice 
against  the  oppressor  enter  the  ears  of  the  Lord 
of  Sabaoth.  Government  was  pervaded  with  the 
spirit  of  love,  and  consisted  only  of  a  few  pruden- 
tial regulations,  which  were  necessary  for  the  uni- 
versal good,  and  with  which  all  cheerfully  com- 
plied. Christ  w'as  really  king,  and  the  gospel  was 
the  supreme  law.  Justice  returned  to  earth,  and 
held  aloft  her  even  scale.  The  people  went  forth 
in  the  morning  to  their  daily  labor,  with  songs  of 
praise ;  and  at  night,  as  you  passed  their  dwellings, 
you  heard  the  voice  of  prayer.  Here  were  no 
courts,  for  love  soon  settled  all  differences.  Jus- 
tice was  only  a  form  of  love.  Stern  justice,  with- 
out mercy,  is  like  the  light  of  winter,  which  wraps 
the  earth  in  ice.  Justice,  tempered  with  love,  is 
like  the  light  of  spring,  which  clothes  the  earth 
with    flowers.     Here    were    no    prisons,    for    crimes 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  257 

had  ceased ;  no  dungeons,  whose  "  echoes  only- 
learned  to  groan."  Artificial  distinction^  faded 
away  before  the  power  of  Christian  love.  Tliere 
was  neitlier  Jew  nor  Greek,  Barbarian,  Scythian, 
bond  nor  free,  male  nor  female,  for  all  were  one 
in  Christ  Jesus.  Each  felt  an  interest  in  the  wel- 
fare of  all,  and  was  constrained  by  Jesus's  love  to 
live  the  servant  of  all.  Love  ennobled  every  ser- 
vice, and  every  thing  was  cheerfully  done  for  the 
good  of  others,  whether  to  labor  to  save  a  world 
or  to  kiss  away  a  tear  from  an  infant's  eye. 

This  blissful  region,  which  seemed  to  occupy  a 
position  intermediate  between  earth  and  heaven, 
seemed  to  be  arranged  in  harmony  with  the  feel- 
ings of  the  sanctified  heart.  Outward  nature  is 
made  to  image  spiritual  things.  The  holy  soul 
looks  around  upon  the  glories  of  creation,  and 
sees  in  them  the  symbols  of  higher  things.  "  They 
are  shadows  here,  authenticating  substance  there." 
How  full  is  the  earth  of  beauty^  and  of  blessing  ! 
We  see  eternal  love  and  wisdom  reflected  every 
where  —  the  grand  and  glassy  ocean,  which,  like 
a  boundless  mirror,  images  the  deep-blue  sky,  the 
glowing  sun,  the  silvery  moon,  and  the  ever- 
22 -^ 


258  I  HE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

moving  panorama  of  cloud  and  star,  like  the  ideas 
of  things  existing  in  the  divine  mind  before  they 
were  embodied  in  material  forms.  The  material 
heavens  glowing  with  countless  stars  and  suns, 
which  revolve  around  their  common  centre,  do  but 
image  the  numberless  societies  of  the  celestial 
world,  drawn  together  b}'  spiritual  affinities,  and 
by  the  nature  of  that  particular  form  of  divine 
good  in  which  they  are  grounded,  but  all  con-  I 
nected  with  and  revolving  around  Christ,  the 
universal  centre.  "  The  green-carpeted  earth,  the 
infinitely-varied  loveliness  of  the  flowers,  bedeck- 
ing with  living  gems  the  land  on  every  side  ;  the 
flowering  bushes,  the  fragrant  shrubs,  the  stately 
trees,  with  every  shade  of  foliage,  waving  their 
majestic  heads  in  luxury  of  life,  and  ever  rising 
higher  to  the  light ;  while  over  all,  the  magnifi- 
cent arch,  which  constitutes  the  dome  of  this 
palace  of  our  God,  in  the  still,  cerulean  hue  of 
day,  and  the  brilliant  blaze  of  the  golden  gran- 
deur in  the  night,  are  full  of  spiritual  significance, 
and  ever  suggest  infinitudes  of  solemn  majesty, 
order,  mercy,  and  peace."  They  seem  to  be  ideas 
projected   from    the    spiritual  world,  and   assuming. 


PAKADISE     RESTORED.  259 

at  this  distance  from  their  centre,  outward,  tangible 
shapes.  This  world,  so  grand,  so  glorious,  seems 
but  the  outward  robe  of  the  higher  spiritual 
world.  It  is  a  heavenly  veil,  tremulous  and 
wavy,  which  the  Creator  has  thrown  over  his 
inner  and  more  perfect  creations.  The  holy  soul, 
divinely  illuminated,  may  see  these  spiritual  cor- 
respondences in  the  visible  world.  In  the  Happy 
Islands,  all  outward  things  were  arranged  in  exact 
correspondence  to  their  spiritual  state.  I  observed 
with  wonder  that  all  discordant  sounds  had  ceased. 
Harmonious  sounds  symbolize  divine  order  in  the 
affections  of  the  soul,  and  are  heavenly  in  their 
origin  and  significance.  Discord  is  infernal,  and 
has  its  birth  in  sin.  "When  sin,  which  is  a  moral 
discord  in  the  universe,  utters  itself  freely,  the 
sound  is  unharmonious.  Such  is  the  clangor  and 
discordant  roar  of  the  battle  field,  the  yells  of  a 
furious  mob,  the  profone  oaths  and  shouts  of  the 
wicked  in  their  sensual  mirth,  and  the  wailings, 
and  bowlings,  and  gnashing  of  teeth  of  the  lost. 
Harmony  is  from  above,  and  in  its  spiritual  sense 
represents  the  state  of  the  soul,  when  love  holds 
there    her    peaceful    and    orderly    reign.      In    the 


260  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK. 

Happy  Islands,  all  the  sweet  and  varied  sounds 
of  nature  touched  a  responsive  chord  in  the  re- 
deemed soul,  and  harmonized  with  their  songs  of 
praise.  Nature  seemed  a  vast  harjo,  struck  by  an- 
gel fingers,  which  expressed  and  offered  up  to  God 
the  sweet  harmony  of  holy  souls.  As  I  walked 
amid  the  displays  of  the  divine  goodness  and  wis- 
dom, which  every  where  met  my  gaze,  I  could 
but  exclaim,  — 

"  O  for  a  seraph's  golden  Ij're, 
"With  chords  of  light  and  tones  of  fire, 

To  sing  Jehovah's  love  ! 
To  tell  redemption's  wondrous  plan, 
How  God  descended  down  to  man, 

That  man  might  rise  above  !  " 


LOVE   DUE   TO  THE   CREATOR. 

"  And  ask  ye  why  He  claims  our  love  ? 

O,  answer,  all  ye  winds  of  even, 
O,  answer,  all  ye  lights  above, 

That  watch  in  yonder  darkening  heaven ; 
Thou  earth,  in  vernal  radiance  gay. 

As  when  his  angel.s  first  arrayed  thee, 
And  thou,  0  deep-tongued  ocean,  say 

Why  man  should  love  the  Mind  that  made  thee. 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  261 

There's  not  a  flower  that  decks  the  vale, 

There's  not  a  beam  that  lights  the  mountain, 
There's  not  a  shrub  that  scents  the  gale, 

There's  not  a  wind  that  stirs  the  fountain, 
There's  not  a  hue  that  paints  the  rose, 

There's  not  a  leaf  around  us  lying. 
But  in  its  use  or  beauty  shows 

True  love  to  us,  and  love  undying." 


262  TH2     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 


CHAPTER    IX.     • 
THE  ISLAND   OF  ELEUTHERIA. 

The  Island  described.  —  State  of  Societij.  —  TJie  Centre  of  Wor- 
ship. —  The  Sabbath.  —  Tlie  Bondage  of  the  Soul  ended.  — 
Testimony  of  heathen  Poets  and  Philosophers  to  the  Ten- 
dency of  the  Soul  to  Evil. —  The  Liberty  which  teas  enjoyed 
in  Paradise.  —  Christ  restores  it  to  the  Soul.  —  The  Soul 
flows  unto  God. —  The  Elements  of  true  spiritual   Freedom. 

—  Deliverance  from  the  Bondage  to  Forms.  —  Knoicledge  of 
the  all-satisfying   Truth.  —  The  Presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

—  Knoiolcdge  of  the  deeper  Truths  of  the  Gospel.  —  Love 
renders  the  Soid  receptive  of  Truth.  —  Three  Stages  of  di- 
vine Knoicledge. — Divine  Wisdom. —  The  Soul  was  not  only 
free,  but  '^reigned."  —  Quotation  from  Ansclm.  —  .1  Kingdom 
of  God  realized  on  Earth. 

MANKIND  HAVE  panted  for  freedom  as  one 
of  the  best  blessings  whicb  could  fall  to 
their  lot.  Patriots  have  fought  and  bled  to  obtain 
it  for  themselves  and  others.  Liberty  is  dearer  to 
men  than  life  itself.  Philosophers  and  statesmen 
are    eloquent    in    its    praise,    and    poets,    in    their 


PARADISE     K  E  S  T  0  K  E  D  .  263 

divinest  strains,  sing  its  surpassing  excellence.  But 
few  enjoy  it,  for  true  freedom  is  not  merely  an 
external  condition,  but  an  inward  state.  "  He 
whom  tlie  Son  maketli  free  is  free  indeed."  (Jolin 
viii.  36.)  In  the  Happy  Islands  men  were  both 
outwardly  and  inwardly  free. 

The  Island  of  Eleutheria  was  not  like  the  others 
of  the  group,  divided  into  private  farms  and  gardens, 
but  was  the  common  property  of  all.  In  extent 
it  was  nearly  equal  to  the  others.  It  contained  a 
beautiful  lake,  dotted  with  fertile  islets.  The  pub- 
lic gardens  were  on  one  of  them,  containing  all 
the  rare  plants  and  productions  of  the  world,  and 
constituting  a  miniature  Paradise.  Here  were  parks, 
and  fountains,  and  public  walks,  and  baths.  The 
public  buildings  of  this  peaceful  commonwealth 
were  situated  on  the  Island  of  Eleutheria.  On 
one  of  the  islets  of  the  lake  stood  the  edifice  con- 
taining the  public  library.  In  this  quiet  and 
delightful  retreat  one  could  not  avoid  a  desire  to 
retire  and  hold  converse,  by  means  of  books,  with 
the  wisest  and  holiest  men  of  past  ages  and  all 
lands.  In  places  surrounded  with  unsurpassed 
beauty    stood    the    schools    and    seminaries    for    the 


264  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

Christian  education  of  the  young.  Here  science 
and  art  were  the  constant  companions  of  virtue 
and  religion.  Every  thing  which  could  stimulate 
the  natural  depravities  of  the  heart  was  banished, 
for  it  was  not  a  race  of  angels  that  was  to  be 
educated,  but  the  offspring  of  sinful  Adam.  Every 
thing  which  could  raise  the  mind  from  the  natural 
plane  of  life  to  a  spiritual  existence  was  employed. 
Nothing  is  more  potent  to  accomjDlish  this  than 
divine  truth.  Hence  spiritual  truths  were  deposited 
in  the  tender  mind  of  childhood,  which  became  the 
germs  of  a  spiritual  life.  The  children,  at  an  age 
when  they  were  peculiarly  susceptible  of  perma- 
nent impressions,  when  their  character  was  in  its 
formative  stage,  were  brought  under  the  combined 
influence  of  pious  parental  discipline  and  example, 
of  a  truly  Christian  education,  in  the  public  schools 
and  seminaries,  and  of  the  redeeming  power  of  the 
church  and  ministry.  The  Holy  Spirit,  which  is 
never  absent  from  his  truth,  came  like  genial  sun- 
shine and  rain  upon  the  seed  sown.  The  growth 
of  evil  in  the  heart  was  checked  and  stunted  ;  every 
good  principle  was  educed  ;  and  the  soul,  born 
under    the    dominion    of   the   earthy  and   sensuous. 


PARADISE     BESTOEED.  265 

was  raised  to  that  which  is  spiritual  and  heavenly. 
The  schools  were  free  for  all,  and  the  scholar, 
Avithout  private  expense,  passed  through  the  sev- 
eral gradations  up  to  the  university,  where  he 
enjoyed  the  highest  collegiate  and  professional  in- 
struction. All  the  mechanical  trades  were  taught 
on  scientific  principles.  The  noble  science  of  agri- 
culture, the  employment  of  man  in  the  original 
Paradise,  was  taught  to  all  the  youth.  The  effect 
was  seen  in  the  astonishing  fertility  and  beauty  of 
the  lands.  The  country  spread  out  before  you 
like  a  celestial  landscape.  It  was  relieved  in  a 
great  measure  from  the  primal  curse,  and  became, 
like  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  or  the  Garden  of  the 
Lord.  Sometimes  I  ascended  a  hill  which  over- 
looked the  islands.  A  more  enchanting  prospect 
the  eye  never  beheld,  than  was  opened  before  me. 
I  looked  down  upon  jDeaceful  villages,  vine-clad 
cottages,  and  splendid  mansions  encompassed  with 
gardens,  stately  trees,  flower  beds,  and  fields. 
When  seen  glittering  in  the  sun,  the  leaves  of 
the  trees  seemed  to  be  formed  of  silver,  and  the 
fi'uit  of  gold.  Here  was  the  abode  of  domestic 
peace  and  contentment,  which  made  each  family  a 
23 


266  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

heaven  on  a  diminished  scale.  Every  thing  was 
radiant  Avith  peace  and  transporting  joys.  Flocks 
and  herds  Avandered  over  the  hills  and  plains,  and 
water  fowls  gambolled  in  the  lakes.  There  were  a 
great  number  of  fruit  trees,  and  forests  of  lofty 
growth,  and  meandering  streams,  and  Avaving  fields 
of  grain,  "  a  sea  of  A'erdure  rioting  in  the  Avealth 
of  its  ripening  harvests."  In  spring,  the  air  Avas 
embalmed  by  a  Aast  profusion  of  floAvers  blossom- 
ing on  the  lemon,  orange,  and  a  thousand  sweet- 
scented  shrubs,  and  Avas  as  pure  and  balmy  as 
Eden  itself. 

In  the  Island  of  Eleutheria  Avas  the  national 
cathedral,  a  Christian  temple,  Avhere  at  stated  times 
the  Avhole  population  met  for  the  Avorship  of  God. 
It  stood  on  an  eminence  overlooking  the  adjacent 
gardens  and  fields.  It  Avas  a  beautiful  and  im- 
posing structure,  Avhere  all  classes  mingled  to  adore 
the  common  Father.  It  Avas  sufficiently  large  to 
accommodate  many  thousands.  Here  all  ages  and 
sexes  met  to  AVorship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 
Sometimes  the  multitude  assembled  in  an  adjoin- 
ing park,  AA'hich  had  been  fitted  up  for  the  purpose. 
This  Avas  the  case  the  first  Sabbath  Avhich  I  spent 


PAKADISE     KESTORED.  267 

in  the  Happy  Islands.  The  day  is  fragrant  M'ith 
sacred  memories,  and  can  never  be  forgotten  while 
life  lingers.  All  nature  seemed  to  repose  and  put 
itself  in  correspondence  to  the  day  and  the  occa- 
sion. A  deep,  calm,  and  holy  feeling  pervaded  my 
whole  being.  It  seemed  as  if  my  spirit  Avas  re- 
posing with  God  on  the  first  Sabbath  after  crea- 
tion :  — 

• 
'How  still  the  morning  of  the  hallowed  day! 
Mute  is  the  voice  of  rural  labor,  hushed 
The  ploughboy's  whistle  and  the  milkmaid's  song ; 
The  scythe  lies  glittering  in  the  dewy   wreath 
Of  tedded  grass,  mingled  with  fading  flowers. 
That  yestermorn  bloomed  waving  in  the  breeze ; 
The  faintest  sounds  attract  the  ear — the  hum 
Of  early  bee,  the  trickling  of  the  dew, 
The  distant  bleating  midway  up  the  hill. 
Calmness  seems  throned  on  yon  unmoving  cloud. 
To  him  who  wanders  o'er  the  upland  leas, 
The  blackbird's  note  comes  mellower  from  the  dale. 
And  sweeter  from  the  sky  the  gladsome  lark 
AVarbles  his  heaven-tuned  song  ;  the  lulling  brook 
Murmurs  more  gently  down  the  deep-sunk  glen  ; 
AVhile  from  yon  lowly  roof,  whose  curling  smoke 
O'ermounts  the  mist,  is  heard,  at  intervals, 
The  voice  of  psalms,  the  simple  song  of  praise." 

At  length,  during  this  Sabbatic  rest  of  nature,  the 
soft  music  of  the  church  bell  rolled  over  the  echo- 


268  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

ing  hills  and  through  the  quiet  vales,  summoning, 
as  with  angel  tones,  the  multitudes  to  the  place 
of  prayer,  the  house  of  God.  From  every  direc- 
tion, the  people  wero  seen  wending  their  way 
from  all  the  islands  to  this  attractive  centre,  the 
place  where  the  Lord  had  i-ecordcd  his  name,  and 
where  he  had  promised  ever  to  meet  his  children 
and  hless  them.  The  aged  and  the  young,  parents 
and  children,  and  n^ghbors,  in  groups,  clad  with 
neatness,  approach  the  holy  place,  until  all  arc 
seated  in  the  grove,  behind  the  public  temple. 
Each  breathes  a  silent  prayer  for  the  divine  bene- 
diction, and  holds  his  soul  for  a  few  moments  in 
the  presence  of  God,  solemnly  worshipping  him, 
and  fixing  every  desire  upon  him  as  the  fovmtain 
of  blessing.  A  placid  stillness  reigns ;  calmness 
pervades  every  heart,  and  is  cnstamped  on  every 
countenance.  The  man  of  God,  the  servant  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  venerable  for  his  years  ancl 
holy  wisdom,  reads  the  word  of  God ;  the  multi-> 
tude,  as  with  one  heart  and  voice,  fill  the  dome 
of  heaven  with  a  song  of  praise.  It  was  like  the 
sound  of  many  waters,  and  seemed  to  place  us  in 
living  sympathy  with  the  angelic  choirs.     Then,  as 


PAKADISE     RESTORED  269 

if  prostrated  by  some  invisible  power,  the  whole 
multitude  fell  upon  their  knees,  and  bowed  before 
"  the  name  high  over  all."  The  very  act  was  a 
sublime  prayer,  and  seemed  typical  of  the  holier 
worship  of  the  heavens,  — 

"  Where  ranks  of  shining  thrones  around 
Fall  worshipping,  and  spread  the  ground." 

The  voice  of  supplication  from  the  pulpit,  in 
silver  tones,  rolled  over  the  prostrate  throng. 
Prayer  ardent  opened  heaven ;  both  worlds  flowed 
together.  "  The  Lord  is  in  this  place,"  was  the 
secret  feeling  of  every  heart.  The  scene  was  one 
surpassing  description.  The  discourse  of  the  man 
of  God ;  the  simple  and  united  songs  of  praise 
which  melted  all  hearts  into  one  ;  the  absence  of 
all  pomp  and  formality,  and  yet  the  reign  of  di- 
vine order ;  the  cheerful  solemnity  which  over- 
shadowed the  place  ;  the  intermingling  of  instruc- 
tion and  devotion,  so  that  the  wants  of  the  intellect 
and  heart  were  both  met ;  the  absence  of  Pharisaic 
legalism,  and  the  presence  of  Christian  freedom, 
which  took  its  place,  and  made  the  Sabbath  a 
delight  of  the  Lord,  holy  and  honorable;  all  this 
23^^ 


270  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

made  the  scene  morally  sublime,  and  the  occasion 
rich  in  the  experience  of  divine  things.  Christ 
has  said,  "  "Where  any  two  shall  agree  [or  har- 
monize—  for  the  word  is  borroAved  from  music]  as 
touching  any  thing  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be 
done."  But  here  thousands  of  hearts,  like  so 
many  musical  strings  in  tune,  blended  their  desires 
into  one  vast  symphony,  which  rose  to  the  throne 
of  God. 

The  Sabbath,  in  the  Happy  Islands,  was  a  day 
of  holy  convocation,  as  it  would  have  been  in 
Paradise,  had  sin  never  expelled  the  race.  It 
served  to  unite  the  soul  to  the  Lord,  and  by  the 
communion  of  saints  on  earth  and  in  heaven,  to 
join  heart  to  heart,  and  conjoin  this  lower  sphere 
of  life  to  the  celestial  realms.  By  bowing  together 
before  the  same  Creator  and  Redeemer,  and  fixing 
the  soul  upon  the  same  divine  and  universal  cen- 
tre, all  aristocratic  distinctions  vanished,  public 
spirit  was  kept  alive,  unity  was  maintained  in  the 
midst  of  diversity,  and  a  family  feeling  pervaded 
the  whole  commonwealth.  Heart  met  heart  in 
holy  love.  Every  expression  of  good  Avill  for  the 
welfare  of  others  was  echoed  back  from  a  congenial 


PAllADISE     RESTORED.  271 

spirit.  This  was  to  me  my  first  real  Sabbath.  It 
was  never  enjoyed  before  in  all  the  fulness  and 
extent  of  its  spiritual  significance.  The  Sabbath, 
in  its  lowest  natural  sense,  is  a  day  of  cessation 
from  bodily  labor,  after  six  days  of  physical  toil. 
In  a  higher  sense,  it  is  a  divine  symbol  of  the 
peace  that  attends  regeneration,  when  the  soul 
becomes  tranquil,  no  longer  agitated  by  fear,  bj 
anxiety,  or  conscious  guilt,  or  any  evil  passions, 
which  create  an  inward  disturbance.  This  has  been 
expressively  called  "  the  rest  of  faith,"  "  the  Sab- 
bath of  divine  love."  In  a  still  higher  sense,  the 
Sabbath  is  a  type  of  that  profound  and  unutterable 
repose  and  quietism  of  a  soul  that  has  returned 
from  all  its  Avanderings  to  an  eternal  union  with 
the  Lord.  It  is  a  type  of  that  endless  Sabbatism 
that  remains  for  the  people  of  God.  A  Sabbath 
enjoyed  in  the  fulness  of  its  meaning  leaves  the 
sweet  savor  of  its  influence  upon  the  spirit  during 
the  whole  week,  and  makes  life  a  perj^etual  rest. 
After  the  public  services  of  the  day  had  ended, 
and  the  sun  had  gone  down  in  glory,  I  retired  to 
spend  the  night  upon  an  islet  of  the  lake.  The 
silent  moon,  in  her  majestic  beauty,  glided  slowly 


272  THE     HATPy     ISLANDS,     OK 

through  a  cloudless  sky,  deluging  the  whole  land 
with  the  soft  radiance  of  her  tranquil  light.  The 
same  stars  that  shone  upon  Eden,  and  that  once 
looked  down  upon  the  Son  of  God,  and  listened 
to  the  fervor  of  his  prayers,  while  he  knelt  in  the 
solitude  of  the  mountain  at  the  midnight  hour, 
glittered  still  with  undiminished  splendor.  It  was 
a  night  of  holy  meditations  and  communings.  The 
soul  floated  on  the  ocean  of  the  divine  presence. 
All  things  whispered  of  God.  Nature,  in  divine 
melody,   proclaimed  her  Maker  :  — 

"  From  mountain  and  forest  an  organ-like  tone, 
From  hill-top  and  valley  a  melloAver  one ; 
Stream,  fountain,  and  fall,  whispered  low  to  the  sod, 
For  the  word  that  the}-  spoke  was  the  name  of  our  God. 

All  night,  as  if  stars  were  deserting  their  posts, 
The  heavens  were  bright  with  the  swift-coming  hosts ! 
While  the  sentinel  mountains,  in  garments  of  green, 
AVith  glory-decked  foreheads  were  seen." 

In  the  Happy  Islands,  the  soul  w-as  restored 
to  its  native  freedom.  In  the  country  I  had  left, 
my  spirit  had  been  in  a  state  of  bondage,  —  a 
most  galling  servitude.  This  moral  condition 
is    most    forcibly    described    by    St.    Paul,    in    the 


PARADISE     KESTOEED.  273 

seventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans. 
He  personates  that  state,  because  he  had  passed 
through  it ;  it  had  once  been  his  own  experience. 
The  strength  of  the  depraved  tendency  becomes 
fully  realized  in  our  consciousness  only  when  we 
set  ourselves  in  opposition  to  it,  just  as  the  force 
of  a  river's  current  is  only  perceived  when  we  at- 
tempt to  row  against  it.  When  Paul  first  attempted 
to  break  the  fetters  of  sin,  he  clearly  apprehended 
their  strength.  He  found  a  law  in  his  members 
that,  when  he  would  do  good,  evil  was  present 
with  him.  This  tendency  of  his  nature  to  evil 
was  .as  invariable  as  the  law  of  gravitation  in  mat- 
ter, or  of  instinct  in  animals.  His  mind,  his 
reason,  and  his  conscience  were  illuminated  to  see 
v/hat  was  right  and  good,  but  his  heart  was  not 
renewed  so  as  to  enable  him  to  act  in  harmony 
with  his  sense  of  obligation.  There  was  an  inward 
schism  in  his  nature ;  the  soul  was  at  war  Avith 
itself.  He  was  conscious  of  what  was  right,  and 
yet  did  what  he  knew  to  be  wrong.  He  formed 
purposes  of  obedience,  —  for  to  will  was  present 
with  him,  —  but  failed  to  execute  his  resolutions. 
The  good  that  he  would  he  did  not.     He  travelled 


274  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

hard,  but  made  no  advance,  like  a  criminal  on  a 
tread-mill,  or  a  horse  turning  a  shaft  in  a  circle. 
But  he  found  deliverance  through  Christ.  At  the 
sight  of  the  cross  his  fetters  fell.  In  self-despair 
he  cried,  "  O,  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who 
shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ? " 
He  discovered  in  Christ  the  freedom  the  soul  had 
lost  by  the  original  transgression.  The  law  of 
the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  made  him  free 
from  the  law  of  sin  and  death.  This  freedom  was 
not  merely  an  outward  obedience,  like  the  artificial 
and  spasmodic  motions  of  a  dead  body  vmder  the 
influence  of  galvanism ;  but  it  was  a  living  im- 
pulse within,  originating  in  a  restoration  of  his 
infected  and  enfeebled  nature.  It  was  not  the 
performance  of  the  outward  duties  of  religion,  coldly 
acted  over  as  a  task,  just  as  an  animal  may  be 
trained  to  perform  things  above  its  nature,  but  an 
interior  soul  and  principle  of  divine  life.  The  old 
man,  with  his  corrupt  tendencies,  Avas  put  off; 
and  the  soul,  renewed  in  its  inmost  centre,  put  on 
the  new  man ;  which,  after  God,  is  created  in 
righteousness  and  true  holiness.  (Eph.  iv.  22-24.) 
Plis  soul  became  a  receptacle  of  the  life  of  Christ, 


PAKADISE     RESTORED.  275 

and  it  was  then  his  nature  to  live  Christ-like. 
The  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  per- 
vaded his  inmost  being,  and  he  lived  because 
Christ  lived,  just  as  the  branch  lives  and  bears 
fruit  by  virtue  of  its  conjunction  with  the  parent 
trunk.  The  good  acts  of  the  soul  are  not  then 
like  the  external  adornments  of  a  Christmas  tree, 
which  have  no  vital  connection  with  the  tree,  but 
are,  like  the  natural  fruit,  the  living  outgrowth  of 
the  branches.  There  can  be  no  real  freedom  while 
the  corrupt  nature  remains  unchanged.  We  may 
labor  to  filter  the  streams,  but  the  corrupt  foun- 
tain still  pours  forth  its  bitter  waters. 

The  heathen  philosophers  and  poets  have  not 
failed  to  observe  the  tendency  of  human  nature  to 
evil.  Juvenal,  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of 
Paul  concerning  the  carnal  mind,  (Rom.  vii.  18-23,) 
declares,  that  Nature,  uncliangeahly  fixed,  runs 
lack  to  ivickedness,  as  bodies  to  their  centre, 
Aristotle  calls  this  struggle  of  the  enslaved  moral 
powers  against  the  domination  of  the  fleshly  and 
selfish  propensities  the  natural  repugnance  of 
mans  temper  to  reason.  Pythagoras  terms  it  the 
fatal    companion,     the    noxious    strife,,    that     lurks 


276  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

within  us,  and  inhich  was  lorn  with  us.  Cicero 
laments  that  man  is  brouglit  into  the  ■world  by 
nature,  with  a  frail  and  infirm  body,  and  a  soul 
prone  to  divers  lusts.  This  inward  contradiction, 
this  struggle  of  the  enslaved  spirit  against  the 
deep  current  of  the  depraved  propensities,  led 
Seneca,  one  of  the  purest  of  pagan  moralists,  to 
say,  "  What  is  this,  Lucilius,  which  draws  us  in 
another  direction  from  that  in  which  we  endeavor 
to  go,  and  impels  us  whither  we  desire  to  retreat  ? 
AVhat  is  it  which  wrestles  as  it  were  with  our 
souls,  and  will  not  permit  us  even  once  to  do 
what  we  wish  ?  "  Plato  was  led  to  set  forth  the 
soul,  under  the  image  of  a  chariot,  which  two 
horses  were  drawing,  the  one  white,  and  the  other 
black.  Thus  the  depravity  of  human  nature  is  a 
truth  of  universal  consciousness. 

In  man's  original  state  the  lower  animal  or 
earthly  propensities  were  in  perfect  subjection  to 
his  higher  moral  nature,  which  connects  us  with 
the  Deity,  and  they  were  spiritual  in  their  action. 
In  our  fallen  state,  this  inward  harmony  is  lost ; 
the  balance  of  our  powers  is  disturbed.  That 
which  was  made  to    rule  is    held    in  vassalage.     It 


PARADISE     KESTOEED.  277 

is  what  Solomon  in  symbolical  language  describes 
as  the  vanity  of  our  earthly  condition.  "  I  have 
seen  servants  upon  horses,  and  princes  walking  as 
servants  upon  the  earth."  (Eccl.  x.  7.)  This  sub- 
serviency of  the  spirit  to  the  flesh,  which  is  the 
condition  we  have  inherited  from  Adam,  is  what 
Dr.  Chalmers  denominates  "  the  great  unhinge- 
ment"  of  the  soul.  Christ  came  to  restore  the 
disturbed  relations  of  the  powers  of  the  soul.  He 
does  not  annihilate  any  thing  which  belongs  to  the 
essence  of  human  nature,  but  reinstates  the  de- 
throned moral  and  spiritual  faculties,  which  consti- 
tute the  point  of  attachment  between  us  and  God, 
just  as  the  lower  propensities  link  us  to  the  animal 
world,  and  when  predominant  disjoin  the  soul  from 
God,  its  proper  centre.  Thus  by  the  redeeming 
scheme  of  Christianity  is  accomplished  the  removal 
of  the  disunion  between  the  created  spirit  and  the 
Divinity ;  the  soul  is  brought  into  divine  order ; 
its  bent  of  sinning  is  removed ;  the  direction  of 
its  nature's  current  is  changed.  Before,  its  affec- 
tions tended  to  the  earth ;  now,  to  the  heavens. 
Sin  cleaved  to  it,  and  the  struggling  and  inthralled 
spirit  could  not  cast  off  the  works  of  darkness  ; 
24 


278  THE     HAPPY     ISLAKDS,     OR 

now,  it  experiences  a  great  facility  in  the  perform- 
ance of  holy  actions.  In  Paradise  the  law  was 
written  upon  man's  heart ;  that  is,  its  demands 
were  in  perfect  harmony  with  his  affections.  It 
was  a  law  of  liberty,  because  we  do  with  delight 
and  with  freedom  what  we  love  to  do.  Liberty  is 
the  offspring  of  love,  and  the  character  of  a  man's 
freedom  is  according  to  the  nature  of  his  ruling 
love,  in  which  he  is  grounded.  In  man's  primitive 
condition  the  law  was  so  incorporated  into  his 
spiritual  being,  that  he  did  the  things  contained 
in  the  law  from  the  tendency  of  his  nature.  The 
restoration  of  this  state  is  included  in  the  terms 
of  the  new  and  better  covenant  of  Christianity. 
Christ  came  not  merely  to  write,  "Holiness  to  the 
Lord,"  upon  Aaron's  forehead,  or  upon  the  breast- 
plate of  the  high  priest ;  but,  "  This  is  the  covenant 
which  I  will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel  after 
those  days,  saith  the  Lord.  I  Avill  put  my  laws 
into  their  minds,  and  will  write  them  upon  their 
hearts."  (Heb.  viii.  10.)  The  intellect  shall  be 
so  illuminated  as  to  see  what  is  right  and  duty, 
and  the  affections  so  purified  as  to  embrace  them 
cheerfully  and   freely.     This  inward   law  of  liberty 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  279 

and  life  is  the  law  of  love.  This  docs  not  rcleaso 
the  soul  from  any  moral  oblij.Tation,  but  renders 
obedience  the  natural  working  of  the  spirit.  The 
soul  is  a  law  unto  itself.  In  a  qualified  sense  it 
is  a  freedom  from  all  law  without  us,  a  deliver- 
ance from  the  Pharisaic  bondage  to  the  letter,  and 
the  living  spirit  of  the  law  pervades  and  assimi- 
lates to  itself  the  whole  interior  nature.  If  the 
soul  where  love  reigns  supreme  could  be  taken 
out  of  the  domain  of  the  external  commandment, 
and  be  left  to  do  as  it  pleased,  it  would  do  the 
things  contained  in  the  law,  just  as  a  body  left  to 
itself  tends  towards  the  centre  of  the  earth.  Hence 
said  St.  Augustine,  "  Hahe  caritatem,  ef.  fac  quic- 
qitid  vis"  —  Have  charity,  and  do  what  you  please. 
Thus  it  is  a  state  of  the  purest  liberty,  for  the 
soul,  impelled  by  love,  does  what  it  chooses ;  and 
it  is  also  a  state  of  the  sweetest  bondage.  The 
soul  is  united  to  the  Divinity,  like  a  ^^lant  to  its 
primary,  and  from  an  inward  impulse  revolves 
around  its  blissful  centre.  This  subjection  through 
love  is  sweeter  than  to  possess  empires.  It  is  a 
state  of  the  largest  liberty.  A  criminal  may  be 
free  within   the    contracted    dimensions    of  his  cell. 


280  THE    HAPPY    islands,    or 

In  that  limited  area  lie  may  be  a  monarch.  He 
may  even  dream  of  roaming  at  large  over  the  hills 
and  fields,  hut  wakes  to  find  his  limbs  locked  in 
iron  fetters,  and  his  person  confined  within  the 
limits  of  a  dungeon.  The  gospel  sets  our  feet  in 
a  large  place.  In  an  omnipresent  Deity  the  soul 
finds  an  element  where  it  has  infinite  room. 
Within  the  boundless  circle  of  the  divine  nature, 
and  limitless  sphere  of  the  divine  presence,  it  moves 
and  lives. 

In  the  second  chapter  of  Isaiah,  the  prophet,  in 
speaking  of  the  age  of  the  Messiah,  says,  "  It  shall 
come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  that  the  mountain 
of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the 
top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above 
the  hills ;  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it." 
(Isa.  ii.  2.)  We  can  never  deem  the  Avork  of  our 
redemption  complete  until  we  do  good  without 
effort,  just  as  the  sinner  does  evil.  As  the  tor- 
rents of  the  mountains,  as  the  rivers  in  the  valleys, 
flow  to  the  ocean  from  the  law  of  their  own  na- 
ture, so  the  soul  fully  regenerated  Jloivs  towards 
the  mountain  of  God's  holiness  from  its  own  in- 
ward   impulse.       It    is    not    impelled    merely  by   a 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  281 

sense  of  obligation,  but  through  the  attractions  of 
love,  it  silently,  calmly,  and  freely  moves  in  the 
line  of  duty.  The  degree  of  ease  with  which  one 
does  what  is  right,  is  the  measure  of  the  degree 
of  our  redemption.  In  the  highest  stage  of  our 
personal  regeneration,  our  whole  inward  nature  is 
transformed  into  the  image  of  the  heavenly,  and 
the  current  of  life  flows  spontaneously  in  the  di- 
rection of  God  and  holiness.  The  thoughts,  the 
affections,  the  desires,  and  even  the  will,  all  tend 
of  their  own  accord  towards  their  natural  centre. 
Such  a  soul  does  right  without  a  struggle  with 
opposing  tendencies,  without  an  effort,  and  some- 
times without  knowing  it.  It  is  not  driven  by 
conscience  to  duty,  (for  instance,  to  communion 
with  God  by  secret  prayer,)  like  a  slave  to  a  task. 
Its  nature  Jlows  in  that  direction.  Such  a  person 
acts  in  accordance  with  the  law,  and  yet  is  not 
pressed  by  the  law,  or  the  demands  of  conscience, 
but  his  nature,  his  life,  is  to  do  what  the  law  de- 
mands. His  soul  has  recovered  its  native  freedom, 
the  freedom  of  angels  and  of  God.  This  is  to  be, 
according  to  Isaiah,  the  imiform  experience  of  the 
redeemed  in  the  progress  of  Christ's  redemptive 
24  -• 


282  THE    HAPPY    islands,    or 

work.  The  time  will  come  when  the  multitudes 
of  the  world  will  jlow  unto  the  mountain  of  the 
Lord's  house,  not  like  the  Euphrates,  in  a  great, 
rapid,  and  impetuous  current,  roaring  and  dashing, 
but  the  ransomed  spirit  shall  flow  to  God  like  the 
gentle  Siloah,  whose  waters  go  softly.  (Isa.  viii. 
6,  7.)  "All  the  rivers  run  into  the  sea,  yet  the 
sea  is  not  fall ;  to  the  place  whence  the  rivers 
come,  thither  they  return  again."      (Eccl.  i.   7.) 

One  clement  of  the  liberty  enjoyed  in  the  Happy 
Islands  was  a  deliverance  from  the  bondage  to 
outward  forms.  When  removed  from  the  worn 
channel  of  external  rites,  in  which  its  life  had 
once  flowed,  the  soul  still  lived.  The  truth  of  the 
remark  of  Archbishop  Fenclon  was  realized,  that 
"  those  who  have  experienced  the  grace  of  sancti- 
fication  in  its  higher  degrees  have  not  as  much 
need  of  set  times  and  places  for  worship  as  others. 
Such  is  the  purity  and  strength  of  their  love,  that 
it  is  very  easy  for  them  to  unite  with  God  in  acts 
of  inward  worship  at  all  times  and  in  all  places. 
They  have  an  interior  closet.  The  soul  is  their 
temple,  and  God  dwells  in  it."  They  every  where 
find   Him  who    declared    himself    erreatcr    than    the 


PARADISE     RESTOKED.  283 

temple.  They  arc  in  a  limited  degree  in  the  state 
described  by  St.  John  as  belonging  to  the  New 
Jerusalem,  -svhere  there  was  no  temple,  for  the 
Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple 
of  it.  (Rev.  xxi.  22.)  Through  the  new  principle 
of  divine  life  which  they  have  received,  they  are 
able  to  render  a  true  spiritual  worship  every  where. 
Their  w'hole  life  is  a  perpetual  sacrifice  of  praise 
and  prayer.  One  reason  why  they  do  not  need 
fixed  times  and  places  of  worship  so  much  as  per- 
sons in  the  first  stage  of  Christian  life  is,  becai;se 
they  are  not  moved  so  much,  in  their  heavenward 
w'ay,  by  influences  lying  out  of  themselves,  as  are 
beginners  in  religious  experience.  They  are  im- 
pelled by  a  principle  of  life  deep  seated  within. 
They  are  not  compelled,  like  the  heaven-storming 
Titans  of  the  Greek  mythology,  in  rising  to  the 
celestial  regions,  to  pile  mountains  upon  the  top 
of  mountains,  but  their  regenerated  spirits,  restored 
to  their  original  harmony  with  themselves  and  with 
heaven,  and  freighted  with  the  very  element  of  the 
glorified  state,  rise  of  their  own  accord  and  join 
the  worship  above.  They  do  not,  like  the  Titans, 
mount  into  the   heavens    by  any  external    and  ma- 


284  THE     II  APT  Y     ISLANDS,     Oil 

tcrial  means  of  communication,  but  by  Christ,  who 
is  always  present  to  thcni,  and  communion  with 
whom  is  heaven.  Their  liberty  has  not  made 
them  free  from  worship,  but  "  emancipated  them 
into  the  captivity  of  worship."  Such  persons  are 
more  punctual  in  their  attendance  upon  the  ordi- 
nary means  of  grace,  such  as  public,  social,  and 
private  devotion,  than  others  in  a  lower  degree  of 
divine  life.  These  means  of  grace  are  like  the 
beautiful  gate  of  the  temple,  where  the  beggar 
stationed  himself  every  day  to  receive  alms ;  not 
because  he  hoped  for  a  blessing  from  the  place, 
but  from  those  who  passed  through  it.  When 
providentially  deprived  of  the  means  of  grace,  they 
can  live  without  them.  Yet  both  for  their  own 
good  and  the  profit  of  others,  they  arc  found  in 
their  places  in  the  public  congregation,  and  the 
more  social  seasons  of  prayer  and  praise. 

In  this  delightful  abode  of  peace  and  love,  a 
people  were  found  who  were  truly  free.  They  had 
perfect  freedom  in  their  outward,  social,  and  civil 
condition.  All  obstacles  to  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness and  right  action  were  removed.  The  truth 
had  made  them   free.     Without   the  word  of  God, 


PAKADISE     KESXOKED.  285 

possessed  and  appropriated  so  as  to  leaven  the 
life  of  the  people,  no  community  has  ever  enjoyed 
freedom,  whatever  may  have  been  the  form  of  their 
government.  The  boasted  liberty  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  so  much  sung  by  poets,  and  admired  by 
statesmen  and  philosophers,  was  not  real  freedom. 
"  He  is  the  freeman  whom  the  truth  makes  free." 
In  this  peaceful  Christian  republic,  the  word  of 
God  was  not  only  in  every  house,  but  in  every 
heart ;  so  that  no  one  could  say  to  his  neighbor, 
"  Know  the  Lord,  for  all  knew  him  from  the  least 
to  the  greatest."  Hence  they  enjoyed  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  sons  of  God.  (Rom.  viii.  21.) 
Christ  came  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captive 
spirit,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  souls  that 
were  bound  in  sin  and  nature's  night.  The  year 
of  jubilee,  when  liberty  was  proclaimed  throughout 
the  land  of  Israel  unto  all  its  inhabitants,  and 
when  every  man  was  restored  to  the  heritage  of 
his  fathers,  was  a  shadow  of  good  things  to  come 
in  the  Messianic  age.  Said  Christ,  "  Ye  shall 
know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
free."  But  what  is  the  all-satisfying  truth  which 
brings  liberty  to  the  enslaved    spirit,  and  where  is 


286  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

it  to  be  found  ?  It  is  the  knowledge  of  what  con- 
stitutes the  supreme  good  ;  not  a  mere  intellectual 
apprehension,  but  an  experimental  knowledge  of  it. 
He  can  never  be  free  who  seeks  his  highest  good 
in  the  creatures,  and  not  in  the  Creator ;  who  seeks 
for  rest  in  any  thing  that  is  not  God.  One  of  the 
greatest  falsities  in  the  universe  is  an  expectation 
that  created  things,  however  excellent,  can  satisfy 
the  infinite  longings  of  the  human  spirit.  The 
day  of  freedom  has  dawned  upon  that  soul  which 
has  learned  at  the  feet  of  Christ,  that  things  seen 
and  temporal  are  insufficient  for  its  bliss ;  and 
which  has  taken  the  Deity  in  all  his  infinite  attri- 
butes as  its  portion  —  his  omnipresence  as  the  ex- 
tent of  its  inheritance,  and  his  eternity  as  the 
period  of  its  enjoyment.  The  free  spirit  is  no 
longer  enslaved  to  the  creatures,  no  longer  loaded 
down  with  thick  clay.  The  slavery  of  inordinate 
and  unsatisfied  desire  is  terminated.  Who  is  so 
free  as  that  man,  whose  soul  has  found  in  its  own 
depth  the  supreme  good,  and  desires  nothing  ex- 
cept what  it  now  possesses?  In  God  h  has  all. 
Out  of  God,  and  sundered  from  him,  the  whole 
material  universe   is  worthless.     The  constant  ten- 


PARADISE     RESTOIIED.  287 

dency  of  such  a  soul  is  towards  God.  His  freed 
affections  and  desires  rise  from  the  things  of  earth, 
where  they  had  been  entwined  and  entangled,  and 
fix  peacefully  upon  the  centre  of  their  rest.  The 
law  of  sin  is  reversed,  and  becomes  an  inward  law 
of  liberty.  The  Psalmist  prays  for  this,  and  all 
the  more  earnestly,  as  he  had  become  entangled  in 
the  yoke  of  bondage.  "  Create  in  me  a  clean 
heart,  O  God  ;  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me. 
Restore  unto  me  the  joys  of  thy  salvation;  and 
uj^hold  me  by  thy  free  Spirit."     (Ps.  li.   10-12.) 

The  presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  soul 
is  necessary  to  its  liberty.  To  be  filled  with  the 
Spirit,  to  be^  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
to  walk  in  the  Spirit,  is  to  be  restored  to  the 
original  divine  fellowship  enjoyed  in  the  primitive 
Paradise,  and  lost  by  sin.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the 
every  Avhcre  present  medium  of  communication  be- 
tween the  human  heart  and  the  Father  and  the  Son. 
It  is  by  the  Spirit  that  the  Divinity  imparts  himself 
to  men.  The  soul  is  free  only  so  far  as  its  selfhood 
dies  and  it  is  pervaded  with  the  life  of  God.  When 
it  is  brought  within  the  sphere  of  the  divine  efflu- 
ence, and    the    divine    life  flows    into  it,  so  that  it 


288  THE     II  ATP  Y     ISLANDS,     OR 

can  say,  "  It  is  no  longer  I  that  liveth,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me,"  then  it  has  found  its  native  free- 
dom. It  is  only  where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
that  there  is  true  liberty.  When  he  is  in  the 
heart,  and  operates  •without  obstruction,  we  behold 
with  unveiled  face  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  are 
changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory, 
as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.  The  Holy  Spirit  is 
called  by  David  a  free  Spirit,  not  merely  because 
he  is  freely  bestowed  upon  the  world,  but  because 
he  sets  the  soul  at  liberty  from  sin  by  creating  in 
it  all  holy  dispositions  and  tempers,  takes  away  the 
spirit  of  bondage  to  fear,  supplies  its  place  with 
the  spirit  of  adoption,  and  enables  us  to  serve  and 
worship  God,  not  as  slaves,  but  as  sons.  By  im- 
parting to  us  the  divine  nature,  we  share  the  bliss 
and  partake  of  the  freedom  of  God. 

The  Spirit  makes  the  soul  free  by  leading  it 
into  the  essential,  imperishable,  and  all-satisfying 
truth.  Under  its  tuition  the  soul  advances  from 
the  first  rudimentary  principles  into  the  deep  things 
of  God.  He  is  the  Spirit  of  truth,  and  he  in 
whose  heart  he  ever  dwells  has  in  himself  the  very 
fountain  and  substance  of  truth.     The  Holy  Spirit 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  289 

takes  the  place  of  Christ's  material  presence.  The 
divine  Paraclete  is  the  great  Teacher.  It  was  prof- 
itable for  the  disciples  that  Jesus,  as  to  his  mate- 
rial manifestation,  left  the  world.  It  was  necessary 
in  order  to  remove  from  their  minds  their  sen- 
suous notions  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  He  had 
many  things  to  say  to  them  concerning  his  doc- 
trine, but  they  were  not  in  a  condition  to  bear 
them.  Their  souls  were  not  receptive  of  the  higher 
truths  of  the  gospel.  "  It  was  the  pleasure  of  the 
holy  Trinity,"  says  Euthymius,  "  that  the  Father 
should  draio  them  to  the  Son,  that  the  Son  should 
teach  them,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  should  perfect 
them.  The  two  first  things  were  already  com- 
pleted ;  but  it  was  necessary  for  the  third  to  be 
accomplished,  namely,  the  being  perfected  by  the 
Holy  Spirit."  To  be  perfect,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment sense,  is  to  be  fully  initiated  into  the  mys- 
teries of  the  gospel,  into  the  deeper  truths  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  It  is  to  rise  from  the  lowest 
elementary  principles  to  a  maturity  and  fulness  of 
Christian  knowledge,  and  to  enjoy  a  corresponding 
inward  experience.  (Heb.  vi.  1.)  It  is  to  reach 
the  maturity  of  Christian  manhood.  "When  that 
25 


290  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

whicli  is  perfect  is  come,  then  that  which  is  in 
part  is  done  away.  Wlicn  I  was  a  child  I  spake 
as  a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child,  I  understood  as 
a  child ;  but  when  I  became  a  man  I  put  away 
childish  things."  (1  Cor.  xiii.  10,  11.)  This  can 
only  be  reached  under  the  powerful  tuition  of  the 
Paraclete,  or  Comforter,  who  is  to  be  in  us  and  to 
abide  Avith  us  forever.  Love,  which  is  one  of  the 
first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  furnishes  the  soul  that 
disposition  which  is  most  receptive  of  divine  truth. 
It  has  an  affinity  for  truth.  It  drinks  in  the  truths 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  a  dry  soil  drinks  in 
the  rain  of  heaven.  Such  a  soul  instinctively 
knows  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  discerns  truth 
from  error.  Pure  love  is  the  essence  of  all  divine 
truth.  Hence  Christ  declares  that  to  love  God 
with  all  the  heart,  and  the  neighbor  as  ourselves, 
is  the  whole  law  and  the  prophets.  Where  pure 
love  exists,  truth  flows  in,  just  as  light  penetrates 
and  illuminates  a  transparent  medium.  The  earth 
without  an  atmosphere  to  receive  and  retain  the 
light  of  the  heavens  would  be  enveloped  in  dark- 
ness, though  innumerable  suns  might  be  flaming 
in  the  firmament.     So    love   is    the   atmosphere   of 


PAPwADISE     EESTOEED.  291 

the  human  spirit,  which  receives  and  hokls  the 
spiritual  truths  of  the  divine  word.  Without  it  the 
understanding  is  darkened. 

It  has  seemed  to  some  that  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion has  passed  through    three  successive  stages  or 
dispensations,    corresponding   to    the    three    persons 
in  the  Trinity.     The   times    of   the  Old    Testament 
belong  to  God  the  Father;    in    this   period    he    re- 
veals  himself  in   his    self-existence,  his    unity,  and 
almighty  power,  by  signs  and  wonders.     Next  fol- 
lowed the   times    of  the  New  Testament,  in  which 
the  incarnate  Word  revealed  himself  in  his  wisdom, 
where  the  strivings    after  a  comprehensible    knowl- 
edge   of    spiritual     mysteries     predominates.       The 
seeds    of   knowledge    and    the    germs    of    spiritual 
ideas  were    deposited    by  Christ  in    the  soil  of   the 
human  mind,  to  be   unfolded    in  the  future  history 
of  the  church.     In  this    epoch  of  redemption   light 
struggles  with  the  thick  darkness,  and  celestial  and 
spiritual  truth  strives  for  admission  and  habitation 
in  the  fleshly  mind.     We  are   now  in    the    dispen- 
sation of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  commenced  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost.     In  this    the    fire  of   divine  love 
predominates.       The    germs    of    thought    sown    by 


292  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

Cliiist  in  the  consciousness  are  stimulated  and  viv- 
ified by  the  presence  of  the  Spirit,  and  a  mature 
and  glorious  harvest  of  "wisdom  is  the  result. 

The  individual  also  passes  through  three  suc- 
cessive stages  of  divine  knowledge ;  for  the  indi- 
vidual differs  from  the  church  as  a  whole  only  as 
a  small  circle  differs  from  a  large  one.  Both  are 
subject  to  the  same  laws  of  development  and  prog- 
ress. The  infantile  and  sensuous  ideas  of  God 
and  heavenly  things  give  place,  in  the  progress  of 
our  salvation,  to  a  higher  and  more  spiritual  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  the  things  of  God.  Lastly,  the 
soul,  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  attains 
to  rest  and  freedom  in  the  possession  of  celestial 
wisdom.  The  mind  in  its  restless  craving  for 
knowledge  can  never  be  free  and  enjoy  tranquil- 
lity until  it  attains  the  unspeakable  gift  of  the 
wisdom  that  comes  from  above.  Once  it  restlessly 
searched  for  knowledge  as  for  a  hidden  treasure  ; 
now  it  seeks  for  wisdom.  Wisdom  is  the  soul, 
the  inmost  essence  of  knowledge.  It  is  the  holy 
of  holies  of  knowledge,  which  the  soul  enters  by 
passing  inward  through  the  outward  court  of 
sense,  and  the   sanctuary  of  mere   religious  science. 


PARADISE     KESTOKED.  203 

Knowledge  Avithout  it  is  empty  wind  ;  it  is  worldlj^ 
in  its  origin,  and  can  never  elevate  the  soul  above 
the  world.  The  soul  at  first  is  in  the  lowest 
story,  the  basement  of  the  palace  of  truth,  a  mere 
sensuous  apprehension  of  things.  It  then  rises  to 
the  next  higher  stage,  the  second  story,  which  is 
what  we  call  religious  knowledge.  It  is  the  sci- 
ence of  the  Christian  schools.  It  is  the  dawn  of 
spiritual  light.  It  is  like  a  luminous  cloud  which 
has  concealed  the  sun  in  its  bosom.  By  wisdom, 
the  soul  is  elevated  to  the  upper  story  of  the  pal- 
ace, and  moves  in  the  angelic  plane  of  intellectual 
life.  How  vast  the  difference  between  the  meek 
wisdom  of  a  divinely  illuminated  mind  and  that 
mere  secular  knowledge  which  is  wholly  dis- 
connected from  God,  and  falsely  called  science. 
Unless  knowledge  leads  the  soul  to  God,  it  is 
worthless  and  unsatisfying.  True  wisdom  comes 
down  from  God  and  leads  to  him.  It  is  not  a 
native  of  earth,  but  of  heaven,  and  draws  the  soul 
to  the  seat  of  its  rest.  It  does  not  enter  the  soul 
through  the  senses,  but  is  a  high  and  divinely 
bestowed  intelligence,  imparted  to  a  soul  in  union 
with  the  Deity.  It  includes  in  it  holiness,  divine 
25^ 


294  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

freedom,  and  peace.  It  contains  in  it,  as  a  gem 
in  a  casket,  the  chief  good,  "  for  which  every  man, 
by  virtue  of  the  deepest  and  inmost  want  of  his 
nature,  cannot  but  long."  It  was  the  companion 
of  God,  in  the  solitude  of  his  own  eternity,  before 
he  created  the  world.  It  filled  the  divine  mind 
with  infinite  happiness  ;  and  its  possession  by  the 
finite  mind  cannot  but  impart  the  purest  bliss. 
(Prov.  viii.  22-29.)  The  soul  must  soar  above 
the  world  to  find  the  fountain  of  this  heavenly 
wisdom.  It  is  a  hidden  wisdom  which  none  of 
the  princes  of  this  world  know.  It  is  the  wisdom 
of  God  in  a  mystery,  which  we  speak  among 
them  that  are  perfect,  and  which  God  ordained 
for  our  glorification,  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  (1  Cor.  ii.  7.)  It  is  obtained  only  by  direct 
communication  of  the  soul  with  God,  through  the 
Holy  Spirit.  As  the  divine  presence  moves  over 
the  abyss  of  the  human  spirit,  it  gives  vitality  to 
the  germs  of  wisdom,  hidden  there  by  Christian 
instruction,  and  they  become  fruitful.  What  a 
Aveight  of  meaning  do  the  Scriptures  then  contain ! 
A  verse  becomes  a  volume.  We  find  that  all  our 
previous    inquiries    have    only    ruffled    the    surface ; 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  295 

and  we  see  their  meaning  reaching  down  into  the 
imfathomed  depth  of  infinity.  Before  the  soul  is 
bathed  in  that  celestial  light  in  which  God  dwells, 
and  before  it  is  baptized  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  in 
reading  the  divine  word,  "  the  light  shineth  in  the 
darkness,  and  the  darkness  comprehendeth  it  not." 
Before  the  mind  receives  the  unction  from  the  Holy 
One,  who  is  truth  itself,  and  who  teaches  us  all 
things,  the  mind  is  enslaved  to  the  outward  letter, 
and  to  sense,  as  Avere  the  apostles  themselves  be- 
fore they  received  the  Pentecostal  influences.  The 
baptism  of  the  Spirit .  elevates  the  soul  from  merely 
natural  knowledge  to  a  higher  plane  of  spiritual 
intelligence. 

In  the  Happy  Islands,  the  people  were  not  only 
free,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  that  term,  but  they 
reigned.  Here  was  found  a  royal  priesthood. 
They  ■\¥ere  all  kings  and  priests  unto  God.  I 
never  comprehended  the  hidden  meaning  of  this 
until  I  gained  this  pleasant  land,  where  Chris- 
tianity exerted  its  full  influence  in  shaping  the 
inner  and  outward  life  of  the  inhabitants.  In  the 
heaven  to  which  we  hasten  there  is  but  one  will ; 
that    is,  all    individual    wills,    without    losing    their 


296  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

personality,  are  merged  and  lost  in  the  will  of 
God.  To  reign  with  Jesus,  to  sit  with  him  on 
his  throne,  and  to  he  exalted  to  the  kingly  dignity 
and  position,  is  not  to  govern,  under  him,  any  par- 
ticular province  of  his  unbounded  empire,  hut  to 
have  one  will  with  him.  Then,  whatever  the  soul 
wills  or  desires,  it  has  ;  because  its  Avill  and  de- 
sires are  in  harmony  with  God's  will.  To  have 
what  wc  Avill  is  absolute  monarchy,  which  never 
really  exists  in  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  but 
only  in  the  sanctified  heart.  For  what  earthly 
monarch  ever  had  his  will  in  all  things  ?  The 
purified  heart  more  truly  reigns  than  does  the 
Czar  of  Russia,  or  the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  For  it 
has  exactly  what  it  desires,  because  it  wants  noth- 
ing in  earth  or  heaven  contrary  to  the  will  of 
God,  and  every  thing  which  he  wills  comes  to 
pass.  This  state  characterizes  the  highest  form  of 
the  Christian  experience  in  this  world,  but  will  be 
more  complete  in  the  celestial  state.  The  pious 
Anselm  (born  in  Aosta,  in  Piedmont,  in  A.  D. 
1033  —  died  1109)  clearly  apprehended  the  bless- 
edness of  that  most  intimate  of  all  unions,  the 
conjunction    of    the    human    and    the     divine    will, 


PARADISE     KESTOKED.  297 

which,  is  the  prime  element  of  the  heavenly  state. 
He  says,  "  My  dear  brother,  God  calls  and  asks 
you  to  bid  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  This 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  one  whose  blessedness  and 
glory  no  mortal  eye  hath  seen,  no  ear  hath  heard, 
and  no  heart  of  man  can  conceive.  But  that  thou 
mayst  gain  some  idea  of  it,  take  the  following 
illustration :  Whatever  any  one,  who  is  thought 
worthy  of  reigning  there,  ivilh,  that,  whether  in 
heaven  or  on  earth,  is  done.  For  so  great  Avill  be 
the  love  between  God  and  those  who  are  to  be  in 
this  kingdom,  and  of  the  latter,  one  towards  the 
other,  —  that  all  will  love  each  other  as  they  do 
themselves,  and  God  more  than  they  do  themselves. 
Hence  no  one  there  will  be  disposed  to  will  any 
thing  else  except  what  God  wills,  and  what  one 
wills  all  shall  will,  and  what  one  or  all  may  will, 
God  shall  will.  It  will  therefore  be  with  every 
individual  and  with  all,  with  the  whole  creation, 
and  with  God  himself,  as  each  shall  will.  And  thus 
shall  all  be  perfect  kings,  for  that  filiall  he  which 
each  loills  ;  and  all  will  be  at  the  same  time  with 
God  as  one  king,  —  as  it  were  one  man,  —  because 
all  shall  will  the   same  thing,  and  what  they  will, 


298  THE     HAPPY     ISLAKDS,     OH 

shall  he.  God  from  heaven  asks  you  to  bid  for  such 
a  good.  Does  any  inquire,  For  what  price  ?  He 
is  answered,  He  who  will  give  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  demands  no  earthly  price ;  and  to  God,  to 
whom  belongs  every  thing  which  exists,  no  one 
can  give  what  he  had  not.  And  yet  God  does 
not  give  so  great  a  good  for  nothing ;  for  he  gives 
it  to  none  who  do  not  love  it ;  for  no  one  gives 
that  which  he  dearly  values  to  him  who  cares 
nothing  about  it.  Therefore  love  and  possess.  Fi- 
nally, since  to  reign  in  heaven  is  nothing  else  than 
to  be  so  united  by  love  into  one  will  with  God, 
all  holy  angels  and  men,  as  that  all  at  the  same 
time  possess  the  same  power,  love  God  more  than 
thyself,  and  thou  bcginncst  already  to  possess  what 
thou  wilt  have  there  in  a  perfect  manner.  But 
this  love  cannot  bo  a  perfect  one  in  thee,  unless 
thou  makest  thy  heart  free  from  all  other  love ; 
for  like  a  vase  which,  the  more  you  fill  it  with 
water  or  with  any  other  fluid,  will  hold  so  much 
the  less  oil,  so  the  heart  excludes  Ihis  love  in 
the  same  proportion  as  it  is  carried  away  with 
some  other  love."  (Ncander's  History  of  Chris- 
tianity and   the  Church,  vol.  iv.  p.  366.)     Love  is 


PAKADISE     EESTOKED.  299 

the  principle  of  union;  it  is  spiritual  conjunction. 
It  sustains  the  same  relation  to  the  spiritual  world 
that  gravity  does  to  the  material.  Love  makes 
many  into  one  ;  selfishness  is  the  opposite.  It 
destroys  unity ;  it  disperses  abroad.  It  renders 
impossible  the  conjunction  of  many  into  one  whole. 
The  above  ideal  of  the  kingdom  of  God  was 
more  fully  realized  in  the  Happy  Islands  than  in 
any  other  place  which  I  had  ever  seen.  In  this 
peaceful  commonwealth,  pervaded  as  it  was  by 
Christianity,  as  the  Roman  empire  once  was  by 
idolatry,  was  the  realization  in  actual  life  of  a 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  The  Christian  spirit 
interpenetrated  the  whole  fabric  of  society,  and 
here  was  seen  what  St.  Augustine  calls  a  Civilas 
Dei,  a  State  of  God,  a  City  where  God  reigns.  It 
was  a  Xew  Jerusalem,  an  incipient  millennium. 
Here  was  the  dawning  of  the  latter-day  glory. 
The  golden  age  came  back  to  earth,  and  Paradise 
was  restored.  It  seemed  an  Aurora  heralding  a 
celestial  day.  "  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is 
v.ith  men,  and  he  will  dwell  with  them,  and  they 
shall  be  his  people,  and  God  himself  shall  be  with 
them,  and  be  their  God."     In  this  place,  where  the 


300  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

redeemed  soul  walked  with  a  present  Deity,  there 
■was  a  complete  abstraction  from  ten  thousand 
things,  Avhich,  in  the  noisy  world,  create  discord 
and  disturbance  in  the  minds  of  men.  Peace  was 
not  a  transient  gleam  amid  the  general  gloom,  but 
a  fixed  mental  condition.  It  was  not  a  rainbow, 
arching  the  roaring,  foaming  waters  of  the  cata- 
ract, but  like  what  the  traveller  sees  in  the  north 
of  Europe  —  a  sun  that  sinks  not  beneath  the  hori- 
zon, but  gilds  the  mountain  tops  with  his  beams 
at  midnight,  and  enfolds  the  earth  with  his  almost 
celestial  glory. 


PARADISE     KESTOEED.  301 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE  ISLAND   IIENOTIA,  OR  THE   STATE   OF 
DIVINE  UNION. 

Numa  searching  for  God.  —  The  Deity  every  xchere.  —  lie  is 
to  he  sought  loithin. — Augustine. —  The  primitive  Philoso- 
j)hics.  —  The  Hindu  Philosophy.  —  Its  Aim.  —  Fundamental 
Error,  —  The  Conjunction  of  the  Humanity  of  Jesus  with  the 
Father.  —  Annihilation  of  our  Selfhood.  —  Charles  Wesley. 
—  Madame  Guyon.  —  The  Allness  of  God.  —  Losing  ourselves 
in  him.  —  Kempis. —  Union  with  the  Deity  Man's  primitive 
Condition.  —  Christ  the  Way.  —  The  hypostatical  Union.  — 
lloio  Conjunction  with  God  is  effected.  —  Dr.  Ullman.  — 
Different  Degrees  of  Union.  —  The  Island  Ilenotia  described.  — 
The  Condition  of  human  Souls  symbolized  by  varioics  Rivers. 

"E  AKE  told  by  Plutarch  that  Numa,  the 
legislator  of  Rome,  after  the  death  of  his 
beloved  Avife,  Tatia,  retired  into  the  deep  for- 
ests of  Aricia,  and  wandered  in  solitary  musings 
through  the  thickest  groves  and  most  sequestered 
shades,  impelled  not  by  discontent  or  disgust  at 
26 


302  THE     H  A  P  r  Y     I  S  L  A  N  D  S  ,     O  Tw 

mankind,  but  by  an  inward  craving  to  communi- 
cate with  some  protecting  deity.  His  great  mind, 
like  many  other  lofty  intellects,  pined  for  a  divine 
fellowship.  But  he  need  not  have  buried  himself 
in  the  deep  gloom  of  the  forests  in  order  to  find 
an  every-wherc-present  God.  It  is  true,  in  those 
awful  solitudes  which  never  echo  with  the  voice 
of  man,  God  lives  and  reigns.  In  the  deep  wil- 
derness, where  the  ground  was  never  broken  by 
the  spade,  where  "  flowers  spring  up  imsown,  and 
die  ungathcred,"  the  jDurified  heart  may  enjoy  an 
unlonely  solitude  enlivened  by  a  divine  society :  — 

"It  is  sweet 
To  linger  here,  among  the  flitting  birds, 
And  leaping  squirrels,  wandering  brooks,  and  winds 
That  shake  the  leaves,  and  scatter,  as  they  pass, 
A  fragrance  from  the  cedars,  thickly  set 
"With  pale  blue  berries." 

God  is  there,  for  he  is  not  subject  to  the  limita- 
tions of  time  and  space.  He  is  also  in  the  crowded 
city,  for  he  is  not  far  from  every  one  of  us.  He 
is  in  that  stream  of  living  beings  which  flows 
along  the  noisy  streets  day  and  night.  He  is  in 
the  mountain.  God  loves  the  mountains.  There, 
above    the    storms,  man    has    often    communed  with 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  "^OS 

the  Invisible,  and  found  a  present  Divinity.  It  has 
seemed  to  us,  as  ^xe  have  stood  on  their  lofty 
summits,  that  there  was  nothing  there  but  God. 
Yet  he  is  in  the  valley,  by  the  side  of  peaceful  rivers. 
He  is  on  the  widely-extended  plain,  and  on  the 
ocean,  which  is  the  image  of  his  own  eternity. 
And  wherever  we  seek  for  him  Ave  mav  find  him, 
for  we  are  not  separated  from  him  by  spatial  dis- 
tance, but  only  by  a  moral  dissimilitude.  Verily 
he  is  a  God  that  hideth  himself;  but  to  the  eye 
and  heart  of  purity  he  manifests  himself  as  he 
docs  not  to  the  world.  A  soul  in  harmony  with 
his  infinite  perfections  will  see  him  and  enjoy  him 
at  all  times  and  in  all  places.  In  nature  he  hides 
himself  from  the  sensuous  mind,  behind  the  veil 
of  second  causes ;  but  to  the  piercing  gaze  of  faith, 
the  majestic  form  of  the  Godhead  is  beheld  through 
the  transparent  screen.  It  is  in  the  deep  solitude 
of  the  heart  where  he  delights  to  dwell,  and  to 
reveal  his  presence,  for  the  soul  was  made  for  his 
temple.  Numa,  searching  for  God  in  the  forests 
of  Aricia,  stands  forth  the  representative  of  many 
souls.  The  spirit  of  man  was  made  capable  of  a 
state  of  conjunction  with    God,  and    in    this    alone 


304  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

can  it  find  a  satisf)-ing  bliss.  It  is  characteristic 
of  all  great  minds  to  long  for  communion  with 
the  infinite  Creator  and  Father  of  all.  But  not 
knowing  where  or  how  to  find  him,  they  spend 
their  life  in  dissatisfaction  and  emptiness.  Their 
souls  are  like  a  tree  withering  in  the  sands  of  a 
desert.  The  experience  of  Augustine,  so  simply 
and  eloquently  described  in  his  little  book  enti- 
tled Confessions,  is  the  experience  of  many.  He 
says,  "I  asked  the  earth  of  God,  and  it  answered, 
'  I  AM  NOT  HE.'  I  asked  the  sea  and  the  deeps, 
and  the  living  and  creeping  things,  and  they  re- 
plied, '  We  ake  not  God.'  I  asked  the  moving 
air,  but  the  whole  air,  with  its  inhabitants,  an- 
swered, '  Anaximenes  w^as  deceived  ;  we  are  not 
God.'  I  asked  the  heavens,  the  sun,  the  moon, 
and  the  stars ;  and  they  gave  the  same  answer, 
but  they  added  in  the  silent  voice  of  their  moving, 
beautiful  forms,  '  God  made  us.'  O,  Beauty  of 
ancient  days,  ancient  but  ever  new !  Too  late  I 
sought  thee  ;  too  late  I  found  thee.  I  sought 
thee  at  a  distance,  and  did  not  know  that  thou 
wast  near.  I  sought  thee  abroad  in  thy  works, 
and  behold,  thou  wast  within  me." 


PARADISE     K.ESTORED.  305 

It  was  the  highest  aim  of  the  older  systems  of 
philosophy  to  teach  the  way  in  which  the  soul  may 
attain  to  a  state  of  conjunction  with  its  divine 
Source.  Their  teachings  were  often  connected  with 
pantheistic  speculations,  an  abyss  into  which  the 
old  philosophies  almost  invariably  plunged  ;  yet  it 
indicates  that  deep  craving  of  the  soul  for  a  union 
with  God  which  is  effected  only  in  Christ  and 
Christianity.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  strug- 
gling of  the  primitive  philosophies  to  reach  a 
position  of  calm,  unbroken  repose  in  the  bosom 
of  Divinity.  The  secret  yearning  of  the  human 
spirit  after  a  reunion  with  the  Deity  pervades  the 
different  systems  of  the  Hindu  philosophy.  The 
desire  to  return  to  the  All,  and  to  be  absorbed 
in  the  divine  substance,  which  shows  itself  in  those 
ancient  systems,  is  but  an  instinctive,  though  per- 
verted, longing  of  the  human  spirit  for  an  interior 
and  eternal  unity  with  the  Father  of  spirits.  It 
needed  only  the  light  of  the  gospel  to  conduct  it 
to  the  enjoyment  of  the  highest  bliss  of  which  the 
soul  is  susceptible.  It  is  a  traditionary  relic  of 
the  paradisiacal  state,  and  a  fond  recollection  of 
man's  primitive  condition.  It  breaks  through  the 
2G* 


306  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

superincumbent  mass  of  error  and  fable,  like  tbe 
old  primitive  rock  piercing  through  the  strata  of 
more  recent  formation,  and  rising  to  the  surface  of 
the  globe.  Schlegel  remarks,  that,  "  in  order  to 
free  themselves  from  transmigration,  they  had  re- 
course to  philosophy  —  to  the  highest  aspirings  of 
thought  towards  God  —  to  a  total  and  lasting  im- 
mersion of  feeling  in  the  unfathomed  abyss  of  the 
divine  essence.  They  have  never  doubted  that  by 
this  means  a  perfect  union  with  the  Deity  might 
be  obtained  even  in  this  life,  and  that  thus  the 
soul,  freed  and  emancipated  from  all  mutation  and 
migration  through  the  various  forms  of  animated 
nature  in  this  world  of  illusion,  might  remain  for- 
ever united  with  God.  Such  is  the  object  to 
which  all  the  different  systems  of  the  Indian  phi- 
losophy tend  —  such  is  the  term  of  all  their  inqui- 
ries."    [Philosophy  of  History,  p.   160.) 

They  sometimes  erred  in  looking  for  a  union 
with  God  which  should  destroy  the  personality  of 
the  soul,  the  conscious  self-subsistence  of  the  crea- 
turely  spirit.  The  union  which  Christ  prays  the 
Father  to  grant  those  who  should  believe  on  him, 
in  the  future  progress  of  his  redemptive  work,  was 


PAKADISE     KESTOllED.  307 

a  being  made  one  with  God,  as  ho  and  the  Father 
were  one.  He  prays  "  tliat  they  all  may  be  one, 
as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me  and  I  in  thee,  that  they 
also  may  be  one  in  us."  (John  xvii.  21.)  The  con- 
junction of  God  with  humanity  in  Christ  is  the 
greatest  truth  in  the  universe,  and  the  centre  of 
all  history.  It  is  also  the  model  of  the  union  of 
the  redeemed  and  regenerated  spirit  with  the  Holy 
One,  and  renders  such  a  conjunction  possible. 
Now,  the  humanity  of  Jesus  was  not  made  one 
with  the  Father  in  such  a  sense  as  would  destroy 
its  distinct  personality.  It  was  a  reciprocal  or 
mutual  accession,  or  coming  together  of  the  two 
through  a  harmony  of  character  and  similitude  of 
moral  condition  ;  so  that,  through  love,  they  both 
willed  one  thing.  Their  inmost  natures  were  sym- 
pathetic, unanimous,  and  concordant  in  every  part 
of  each.  This  reciprocal  conjunction  of  the  hu- 
manity of  Jesus  with  the  Father,  which  alone  is 
consistent  with  the  personality  of  the  will  of  Christ, 
is  often  referred  to  in  the  teaching  of  Christ  and 
his  self-manifestation,  which  is  the  great  miracle  of 
the  gospel.  "  Philip,  believcst  thou  not  that  I  am 
in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  me  r  "   (John  xiv. 


308  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

10.)  "That  ye  may  know  and  believe  that  the 
Father  is  in  me,  and  I  in  him."  (John  x.  38.)  No 
other  than  a  reciprocal  union  of  two  personalities 
is  possible.  The  old  Hindu  philosophy  placed  the 
supreme  good  in  "  a  state  of  abstraction  by  which 
the  soul  separates  itself  completely  from  nature, 
and  even  a  state  of  annihilation,  resulting  from  an 
absorption  into  the  divine  being.  These  were  con- 
sidered as  states  of  perfect  repose,  supreme  felicity, 
and  the  definitive  object  of  all  science."  (Henry's 
History  of  Philosophy,  vol.  i.  p.  60.)  The  annihila- 
tion here  spoken  of,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
belief  of  a  later  age,  was  not,  in  all  probability, 
viewed  originally  as  a  cessation  of  existence,  for 
that  could  not  have  been  thought  a  blissful  state. 
A  happy  stats  implies  the  conscious  existence  of 
the  spirit.  It  was,  perhaps,  no  more  than  what 
Charles  Wesley  longed  for,  when  he  prays,  — 

"O  that  I  might  now  decrease! 
O  that  all  I  am  might  cease ! 
Let  me  into  nothing  fall ; 
Let  my  Lord  be  all  in  all." 

Madame  Guyon  calls  the  highest  condition  of  the 
Christian    life  "a  profound  annihilation;"  not  that 


PARADISE     RESTORED  309 

she  would  have  us  cease  to  be,  or  lose  our  indi- 
viduality. She  would  only  have  us  aim  at  the 
destruction  of  what  some  writers  on  the  inward 
life  call  our  proprium,  or  selfhood.  She  would 
have  us  lose  our  selfish  will,  and  would  annihilate 
our  inordinate  self-love,  which  is  the  only  source 
of  evil  in  the  universe,  by  the  union  of  our  wills 
to  God. 

Before  the  soul  loses  itself  "  in  the  Godhead's 
deepest  sea,"  and  attains  the  sum  of  all  its  de- 
sires, and  the  term  of  all  its  wanderings,  in  an 
interior  spiritual  union  with  its  Source,  it  is  usu- 
ally penetrated  with  a  profound  sense  of  the  alhiess 
of  God  and  the  nothingness  of  the  creatures.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  fundamental  idea  of  the 
Scriptures,  as  a  manifestation  of  the  Deity,  is  that 
God  is  all  and  in  all,  and  that  God  is  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself.  This  is  the 
central  thought,  around  which  all  other  ideas  re- 
volve as  satellites.  It  is  the  nucleus  of  the  Chris- 
tian system  around  which  it  is  organized.  I  can 
sympathize  with  the  feeling  of  Madame  Guyon, 
Avhcn  she  asserts  in  her  profound  little  book,  "  The 
Short  and  Easy  Method  of  Prayer,"  that  there  are 


310  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

only  two  truths  in  the  universe  —  the  All  and  the 
Nothing.  She  would  not  have  us  understand  this 
proposition  mctaph3'sicall3\  It  expresses  rather  her 
deep  sense  of  the  greatness  and  infinite  excellence 
of  the  all-pervading  Spirit  as  a  treasure  of  the 
soul,  better,  Avorthier,  and  more  satisfying  than  all 
created  things.  It  was  only  such  a  being  who 
could  quiet  the  vehement  longings  of  the  heart, 
and  make  it  tranquil  and  happy.  All  other  beings 
compared  to  him  were  nothing,  and  became  of  real 
value  only  in  their  relation  to  him,  and  their  con- 
nection with  the  divine  will.  That  God  is  all  was 
the  grand  arcanum  of  the  Orphic  theology,  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Cudworth.  Orpheus  taught  that  "  this 
universe  and  all  things  belonging  to  it  were  made 
within  God ;  that  he  is  the  beginning,  the  middle, 
and  end  of  all  things."  {Intellectual  System  of  the 
Universe,  vol.  i.  pp.  108-112.)  The  same  idea  is 
expressed  by  Jehovah  Jesus  in  his  manifestation 
to  John — "I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  begin- 
ning and  the  ending,  the  first  and  the  last." 
(Rev.  i.  8-11.)  He  is  the  beginning  and  the  end- 
ing, like  the  first  and  last  letters  of  the  Greek 
alphabet,  and    consequently  embraces    all    things  in 


PAKADISE     KESTOEED.  311 

the  complex.  Paul  declares  that  "  for  him,  and 
through  him,  and  to  him  are  all  things,  and  by 
him  all  things  consist."  (Rom.  xi.  36.  Col.  i. 
17.)  God  is  all,  but  all  things  are  not  God.  It 
is  often  but  a  thin  and  subtile  line  which  separates 
truth  from  error.  From  the  top  of  the  loftiest 
truth,  the  soul  sometimes  plunges  into  the  deepest 
abyss  of  falsehood.  To  say  that  the  universe  is 
God,  is  to  utter  the  contradiction  that  the  finite  is 
the  infinite.  The  universe,  however  vast  it  may 
be,  can  still  be  conceived  to  be  greater,  and  hence 
does  not  answer  our  idea  of  God,  who  is  a  being 
so  great  that  nothing  can  be  conceived  greater  or 
more  perfect.  The  universe  manifests  God  —  it  was 
created  for  that  end  —  but  it  docs  not  exhibit  the 
whole  of  God.  There  is  much  of  God  that  is  not 
in  it.  It  docs  not  exhaust  God.  The  heaven, 
even  the  heaven  of  heavens,  cannot  contain  him. 
The  boundaries  of  creation  cannot  include  him. 
To  say,  therefore,  that  created  things  are  God,  is 
to  aver  that  there  is  no  God.  It  is  blank  atheism, 
whatever  names  it  may  assume.  All  things  exist 
in  God.  They  were  created  within  the  infinite 
circle  of  the  divine  Mind.     They  are    upheld   by  a 


\ 


312  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

constant  exercise  of  the  same  power  that  formed 
them,  so  that  preservation  is  a  continued  creation. 
Nothing  exists  -without  him.  Withdraw  God  from 
any  thing,  and  it  ceases  to  be.  Take  away  the 
substance,  and  the  shadow  which  it  cast  disappears 
or  is  annihilated.  Thus  God  is  all  and  in  all. 
He  only  has  life  in  himself.  All  other  things  live 
by  virtue  of  their  being  receptacles  of  his  all- 
pervading  life.  What  is  the  human  soul  ?  All  its 
powers  are  the  gift  of  God,  and  are  the  result  of 
the  divine  presence.  Every  thing  in  it  good  and 
holy  is  an  emanation  from  him,  a  ray  from  the 
Father  of  lights.  Its  continuance  in  existence  for 
an  hour  depends  upon  his  will.  The  unchanging 
infinite  perfections  of  the  Father  of  spirits,  which 
lead  him  always  to  Avill  only  what  is  best,  is  the 
ground  of  its  subsistence  or  continued  existence. 
The  soul  could  no  more  exist  without  the  constant 
presence  and  power  of  God,  than  it  could  have 
originally  created  itself  from  nothing.  And  what 
is  true  of  the  soul,  is  true  of  every  thing  —  the 
worm  and  the  angel,  the  atom  and  the  world.  He 
originates  and  continues  all  other  beings.  They 
were  not  created  from    nothing,  Avhich  is  a  contra- 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  313 

diction,  but  from  God  ;  and  they  exist  in  him  — 
within  the  limitless  area  of  his  every  where  pres- 
ent Spirit,  and  the  sphere  of  his  creative  activity. 
He  is  the  sea  of  being,  and  angels,  and  men,  and 
worlds  are  as  insects  floating  in  its  depths,  and  we 
can  no  more  escape  his  presence  than  we  can  our 
own.  The  wicked  are  in  God  by  physical  position, 
while  they  are  out  of  God  and  far  from  him  by  a 
moral  separation  and   dissimilitude. 

The  soul  that  is  united  to  God  is  deeply  per- 
vaded with  the  consciousness  of  the  alhiess  of  God, 
and  it  is  a  soul  where  the  indwelling  Divinity  has 
every  thing  his  own  way  —  where  free  will,  sub- 
dued and  taken  captive  by  love,  ceases  to  make 
any  resistance  to  the  divine  operations.  There  is 
a  state  of  soul,  an  intimate  union  with  God,  which 
may  be  called  an  annihilation,  using  the  terra  in  a 
qualified  and  not  in  a  metaphysical  sense.  The 
soul  views  God  to  be  all,  and  itself  and  the  crea- 
tures comparatively  nothing,  like  a  grain  of  sand 
by  the  side  of  a  mountain.  It  is  not  like  the  drop 
of  fresh  water  which  descends  from  the  cloud  and 
falls  into  the  ocean,  losing  there  its  own  individual 
existence.     It  was  thus  viewed  by  Pythagoras,  who 


314  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

taught  that  the  complete  salvation  of  the  soul  was 
its  transformation  into  God.  Delivered  from  the 
multiple  and  variable,  to  use  his  own  form  of  ex- 
pression borrowed  from  his  peculiar  numerical 
philosophy,  it  is  absorbed  in  the  absolute  unity. 
But  the  soul,  annihilated  in  the  Christian  sense, 
still  retains  its  individual  existence.  It  still  lives. 
It  even  exhibits  the  highest  form  of  life.  It  is 
consciously  living  in  God,  having  no  desires  out 
of  him,  and  willing  nothing  except  what  he  wills. 
It  is  the  death  of  self,  the  transference  of  the  soul's 
centre  from  its  own  contracted  individual  existence 
to  God,  and  the  separation  from  it  of  that  which 
does  not  belong  to  its  essence,  but  which  has  been 
acquired  by  the  sinful  activity  of  the  will.  It  can 
adopt  the  sublime  utterance  of  Paul,  "  I  am  cru- 
cified with  Christ;  nevertheless  I  live;  yet  not  I, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  "  Ye  are  dead,  and  your 
life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  The  earthly  and 
sensual,  once  the  ruling  element  of  the  spirit,  is 
now  dead  and  buried  in  the  grave  of  Christ.  As 
the  descent  of  Christ  into  the  abyss  corresponds  to 
the  soul's  inthralment  to  the  earthly  sentiments, 
so  the   spirit's  resurrection  from  this  state  of  moral 


PARADISE     KESTORED.  315 

death  is  the  image  of  Christ's  ascension  into  the 
heavens.  Thus  speaks  the  apostle :  "  If  ye  be 
risen  with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which  arc  above, 
where  Christ  sittcth  on  the  right  hand  of  God." 
(Col.  iii.  1.)  The  old  Adam  expires  on  the  crosa 
in  agony,  and  God  in  Christ  alone  lives  in  the 
heart.  That  which  is  peculiar  to  vie,  that  which 
is  not  God,  that  which  constitutes  myself,  which  \ 
can  claim  as  my  properly,  has  ceased  to  be.  Tho 
soul  lives  because  Christ  lives  in  it.  Its  life  is  so 
bound  up   in  him   that   separation  would  be  death. 

"  I  cannot  live  if  thou  remove, 
For  thou  art  all  in  all." 

It  sometimes  obtains  so  profound  an  immersion 
in  the  abyss  of  the  Deity,  as  to  lose  sight  of  the 
creatures,  and  almost  of  itself.  Kempis,  from  his 
own  inward  life,  clearly  apprehended  this  losing 
of  ourselves  in  God.  He  says,  "  Dearest  Jesus, 
Spouse  of  my  soul,  supreme  Source  of  light  and 
love,  and  sovereign  Lord  of  universal  nature  !  O 
that  I  had  the  wings  of  true  liberty,  that  I  might 
take  my  flight  to  thee  and  be  at  rest  !  When  will 
it  be  granted  me,  in  silent  and  peaceful  abstrac- 
tion from  all  created    being,   to    taste    and  see  how 


316  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

good  thou  art,  O  Lord,  my  God  !  When  shall  I  be 
Avholly  absorbed  m  thy  fulness  ?  When  shall  I 
lose,  in  the  love  of  thcc,  all  perception  of  myself, 
and  have  no  sense  of  any  being  but  thine  ?  "  {Im- 
itation of  Christ,  p.  206.) 

The  more  intimately  a  soul  is  united  to  God, 
the  more  it  views  things  as  God  sees  them.  The 
views  and  feelings  of  God  flow  into  such  a  heart 
as  the  vital  circulation  of  the  vine  pervades  the 
branches.  Submerged  in  the  Godhead,  and  from 
the  depths  of  God  looking  out  upon  the  creatures, 
it  sees  their  nothingness,  and  God  is  all.  "  All 
nations  before  him  are  as  nothing  ;  and  they  are 
counted  to  him  as  less  than  nothing  and  vanity." 
(Isa.  xl.  17.)  A  soul  in  union  and  sympathy  Avith 
the  divine  Mind  thus  views  all  created  things.  In 
heaven,  God  is  all.  The  consciousness  of  this  is 
one  element  of  which  heaven  is  made.  It  is  an 
overwhelming  sense  of  his  presence  that  prostrates 
the  seraph  and  the  archangel  before  the  throne. 
God  is  the  centre  of  "  the  whole  orbit  of  created 
mind."  Around  his  throne  in  concentric  circles 
they  are  represented  in  the  apocalyptic  vision  as 
being    arranged.      Their    gaze    is    directed    inward, 


PARADISE     KESTORED.  317 

upon  Him  who  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  not 
outward  upon  the  creations  of  God.  But  the  re- 
deemed of  earth,  in  right  of  Him  who  has  taken 
humanity  up  into  himself,  and  deified  it,  press  into 
the  inmost  circle,  while  angelic  natures  constitute 
the  more  distant  circumference. 

In  Paradise,  before  sin  separated  man  from  God, 
the  soul  enjoyed  the  most  intimate  union  with  its 
Maker.  Man  walked  with  God  ;  the  perfect  moral 
harmony  between  the  finite  and  infinite  Spirit  pre- 
vented the  painful  consciousness  of  distance  which 
was  afterwards  felt,  and  the  two  were  one.  It  is 
the  end  of  all  the  redeeming  agencies  of  the  gos- 
pel to  bring  back  again  to  earth  this  original  divine 
union.  The  only  point  in  all  the  universe  where 
God  and  man  can  meet  is  the  cross  of  Christ. 
There  is  much  emphasis  in  the  declaration  of  Jesus, 
"  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life ;  no  man 
Cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me.''  In  him  the 
divinity  and  humanity  have  met  and  become  one. 
He  has  united  in  his  person  heaven  and  earth, 
God  and  man.  Thus  was  he  typified  by  the  ladder 
which  reached  unto  heaven,  in  the  vision  of  Jacob. 
The  soul,  in  entering  into  fellowship  with  the  whole 
27*^ 


318  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK. 

Deity,  must  experience  an  interior  spiritual  union 
with  Christ.  Thus  speaks  the  apostle :  "  Ye  are 
dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God." 
The  life  is  first  concealed  in  Christ ;  then  Christ, 
in  whom  we  are  concealed,  is  himself  hid  in  God —  j 

immersed  in  the  abyss  of  Deity.  This  is  the  realiza- 
tion in  the  experience  of  the  believer  of  the  answer  of  a 
the  prayer  of  Jesus  in  John  xvii.  20-23.  "  Neither  ^ 
pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall 
believe  on  me  through  their  word ;  that  they  all 
may  be  one  ;  as  thou.  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  9 
thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us ;  that  the 
world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me.  And  the 
glory  which  thou  gavest  me  I  have  given  them ; 
that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  arc  one :  I  in 
them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made 
perfect  in  one."  The  glory  which  the  Father  gave 
to  the  Son  in  his  humanity  was  a  perfect  union 
with  the  Divinity.  This  Christ  has  given  to  us. 
It  was  given  to  Jesus,  that  through  him  it  might 
become  the  property  of  all  who  should  believe  on 
him  in  the  future  progress  of  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion. In  this  sublime  prayer,  he  asks  of  God  that 
the  same    union,  the    same    perfect    oneness,  which 


PARADISE     E.EST0  11ED.  319 

subsists  between  him  and  the  Father  may  exist 
between  our  souls  and  God.  We  should  never 
have  presumed  to  have  asked  or  hoped  for  this,  if 
he  had  not  prayed  for  it.  We  should  never 
have  thought  so  great  a  dignity  and  blessedness 
to  be  possible  for  redeemed  sinners,  had  he  not 
declared  it.  But  surely  it  cannot  be  deemed  pre- 
sumptuous in  us  to  ask  for  that,  which  He,  v,hom 
the  Father  always  hears,  has  prayed  that  wp  may 
have.  We  may  adopt  the  prayer  of  Jesus  as  our 
own,  and  with  the  humble  boldness  of  faith  ask 
that  God  may  dwell  in  us,  and  that  we  may  abide 
in  him  ;  that  we  may  be  so  joined  to  Christ  in  the 
unity  of  the  same  spirit,  as  with  him  to  lose  our- 
selves in  God.  This  is  like  what  we  sometimes 
see  symbolized  in  the  outward  world,  which  is 
full  of  heavenly  correspondences.  There  is  flowing 
onward,  broad  and  deep,  a  majestic  river.  At  a 
certain  place  a  small  rill  rushes  down  from  the  hill 
side,  and  mingles  its  waters  with  those  of  the  river, 
and  both  together,  in  one  undistinguishablo  current, 
flow  on  to  the  ocean.  Thus  the  soul  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God. 

The    hypostalical   union,    as   it   has   been   called. 


320  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OH 

by  which  the  human  nature  of  Christ  was  taken 
tip  into  the  divinitj%  has  shown  the  possibility  of 
the  perfect  union  of  our  souls  with  God.  We  may 
never  reach  so  complete  a  blending  of  the  human 
and  divine  as  there  is  in  the  person  of  Christ ;  yet 
something  after  the  pattern  of  the  incarnation  may 
be  ours  to  enjoy.  Christ,  in  his  human  nature,  like 
the  first  Adam,  represented  the  whole  of  humanity ; 
and  when  his  nature  was  taken  up  into  an  eternal 
union  with  the  Godhead,  it  prepared  the  way  for 
the  oneness  or  unification  of  our  souls  also  with 
the  Deity.  The  incarnation  of  Christ  is  the  great- 
est truth  and  profoundest  mystery  in  the  universe. 
Why  the  infinite  Being  should  feel  any  affinity  for 
human  nature,  and  any  attraction  towards  it ;  why 
an  infinite  Being  should  love  so  low  an  object; 
why  he  should  unite  with  any  object  less  than  in- 
finite,—  is  incomprehensible.  That  he  should  take 
our  nature  up  into  himself,  as  he  has  done  in 
Christ,  is  a  love  that  passes  knowledge.  In  the 
incarnation  we  see  a  Immanization  of  the  divine, 
in  order  to  the  deification,  as  it  were,  of  the 
human.  The  Deity  becomes  a  son  of  man  that 
we  might  become  sons  of  God.     The  union  of  the 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  321 

man  Jesus  with  the  divine  nature  prepared  the  way 
for  the  union  of  all  holy  souls  with  God,  "  that 
in  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  time  he  might 
gather  together  in  one  all  things  in  Christ,  both 
which  are  in  heaven  and  which  are  on  earth,  even 
in  him."  (Eph.  i.  10.)  The  apostle  Paul  declares 
that  God  has  predestinated  us  unto  sonship  by 
Jesus  Christ  to  himself.  For  when  he  joined  that 
nature,  which  was  our  representative  and  forerun- 
ner, unto  himself  in  an  eternal  union,  he  took  our 
souls  with  it.  The  first  fruits  of  this  complete 
union  with  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  we  may 
enjoy  even  in  this  life.  How  far  the  Divinity 
came  down  to  meet  us,  and  to  invite  us  to  a  di- 
vine fellowship  with  him !  He  now  beckons  all 
"wandering,  restless  souls  to  return  to  Him  from 
whom  they  have  revolted.  0  that  our  hearts  might 
leap  to  embrace  the  offer,  and  in  Jesus  lose  them- 
selves in  God  ! 

The  following  remarks  of  Dr.  Ullman,  in  his 
Life  of  Thomas  a  Kempis,  seem  to  me  worthy  of 
consideration,  as  answering  the  important  inquiry, 
how  this  union  of  the  soul  with  God  may  be  ac- 
complished.    "  To  enter   into  fellowship  with  God, 


322  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

the  chief  good  and  fountain  of  blessedness,  and  to 
hccome  one  vnth  Mm,  is  the  basis  of  all  true  con- 
tentment. But  how  can  two  such  parties,  God 
and  man,  the  Creator  and  the  creature,  be  brought 
together  ?  God  is  in  heaven,  and  man  on  earth  ; 
God  is  perfect,  and  man  sensual,  vain,  and  sinful. 
There  must,  therefore,  be  mediation,  some  way  in 
which  God  comes  to  man,  and  man  to  God,  and 
both  unite.  This  union  of  man  with  God  depends 
npon  a  twofold  condition  —  one  negative  and  the 
other  positive.  The  negative  is,  that  man  shall 
wholly  renounce  what  can  give  him  no  true  peace. 
He  must  forsake  the  world,  which  offers  to  him  so 
much  hardship  and  distress,  and  Avhose  very  pleas- 
ures turn  into  pains  ;  he  must  detach  himself  from 
the  creatures,  for  nothing  so  much'  defiles  and  en- 
tangles the  heart  as  impure  love  of  them,  and  only 
when  a  man  has  advanced  so  far  as  no  longer  to 
seek  consolation  from  any  creature  does  he  enjoy 
God,  and  find  consolation  in  him ;  he  must,  in 
fine,  die  to  and  deny  himself,  and  wholly  renounce 
selfishness  and  self-love,  for  whoever  loves  himself 
will  find,  wherever  he  seeks,  only  his  own  little, 
mean,  and  sinful   self,  without    being    able    to    find 


PARADISE     EESTOKED.  323 

God.  This  last  is  the  hardest  of  all  tasks,  and 
can  only  be  obtained  by  deep  self-acquaintance. 
But  whosoever  strictly  exercises  self-examination 
will  infallibly  come  to  recognize  himself  in  his 
meanness,  littleness,  and  nonentity,  and  will  be 
led  to  the  most  perfect  humility,  entire  consecra- 
tion, and  ardent  longing  after  God.  For  only  when 
man  has  become  little  and  nothing  in  his  own  eyes 
can  God  become  great  to  him ;  only  when  he  has 
emptied  himself  of  all  created  things  can  God  re- 
plenish him  with  his  grace."  The  positive  condition 
also  is  stated  :  "  Not  only  must  a  man  become  free 
from  the  w^orld,  the  creatures,  and  himself,  but  God 
must  impart  himself  to  him,  in  order  that  he  may 
thenceforth  live  to  God.  The  two  things,  how- 
ever, being  dependent  upon  each  other,  and  taking 
place  simultaneously,  cannot  be  effected  by  man 
alone,  but  are  brought  about  essentially  by  God, 
and  through  divine  grace."  But  it  is  well  to  re- 
mark that  when  the  character  of  man  is  in  harmony 
with  God,  and  the  human  will  is  wholly  surren- 
dered to  him,  that  this  divine  union  takes  place 
of  its  own  accord.  There  is  then  a  spiritual  affinity 
between    the    divine    and    human.      The    disjunctive 


324  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OR 

agency  of  sin  in  separating  man  from  his  proper 
centre  is  removed,  and  the  soul  is  attracted  to 
God  and  God  to  the  soul.  The  only  thing  which 
disjoins  the  created  spirit  from  its  Creator  is  sin. 
In  fact  this  is  the  only  thing  in  the  universe  which 
is  really  opposed  to  God,  and  to  Avhich  he  is  op- 
posed. Every  thing  else  is  perfectly  obedient  to 
his  will,  and  yields  to  his  good  pleasure.  To  sub- 
due the  free  will  of  man,  Avhich  has  broken  away 
in  its  self-activity  from  the  orbit  of  perfect  obe- 
dience, is  the  steady  aim  of  all  the  moral  forces 
of  the  redemptive  scheme.  Christianity  begins  here. 
"  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,"  says  Christ, 
"  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and 
follow  me."  Plato  wrote  over  the  door  of  his 
academy,  "  Let  no  one  enter  here,  who  is  ignorant 
of  geometry."  Christ  has  written  over  the  gate- 
way of  the  Christian  system,  "  Except  a  man  for- 
sake all  that  he  hath  he  cannot  be  my  disciple." 
Self-renunciation  is  the  basis  of  all  spiritual  per- 
fection. The  spirit  of  Gethsemane  must  be  repro- 
duced —  a  spirit  which  not  only  submits  to  God,  but 
harmonizes  with  the  divine  will.  The  following 
hymn  of  an  unknown  author  is  pervaded  with  that 
spirit  with  which  God  always  unites :  — 


PARADISE     JIESTOKED.  325 

"  Prince  of  peace,  control  my  will ; 
Bid  this  struggling  heart  be  still; 
Bid  ray  fears  and  doublings  cease; 
Hush  my  spirit  into  peace. 

Thou  hast  bought  me  ^dth  thy  blood, 
Opened  wide  the  gate  to  God; 
Peace  I  ask,  but  peace  must  be. 
Lord,  in  being  one  with  thee. 

May  thy  will,  not  mine,  be  done  ; 
May  thy  will  and  mine  be  one ; 
Chase  these  doubtings  from  my  heart ; 
Now  thy  perfect  peace  impart. 

Saviour,    at  thy  feet  I  fall ; 
Thou  my  life,  my  God,  my  all : 
Let  thy  happy  servant  be 
One  forevermore  with  thee." 

A  soul  in  such  a  moral  attitude  may,  consistently 
with  the  divine  perfections,  be  met  of  God  and 
blessed  Avith  the  divine  presence.  When  the  bar- 
rier of  a  selfish,  sinful  will  is  removed,  the  infinite 
and  finite  spirits  flow  into  one.  The  moral  har- 
mony of  nature  which  constitutes  the  ground  of 
the  union  of  the  soul  to  God,  may  exist  in  dif- 
ferent degrees.  In  its  lowest  degree  it  may  be 
only  a  union  of  desires.  The  soul  desires  what  is 
l^leasing  to  God.  Though  conscious  of  many  de- 
fects and  blemishes  of  spirit  which  must  be  offen- 
28 


32C  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

sive  to  the  Holy  One,  it  inwardly  yearns  for  full 
conformity  to  the  divine  likeness.  It  may,  in  ad- 
dition, and  as  a  more  advanced  stage,  love  what  God 
loves,  and  hate  Avhat  he  hates.  In  its  affections 
it  may  sympathize  with  God.  But  the  union  is 
only  complete  when  the  will  is  restored  to  that 
harmony  with  the  divine  will  which  Avas  its  original 
state.  Then  the  hlissful  familiarity  between  God 
and  his  creature,  which  was  the  chief  element  of 
the  paradisiacal  state,  is  restored.  "  For  thus  saith 
the  high  and  lofty  One  that  inhabiteth  eternity, 
whose  name  is  Holy :  I  dwell  in  the  high  and 
holy  place,  with  him  also  that  is  of  a  humble  and 
contrite-  spirit,  to  revive  the  spirit  of  the  humble, 
and  to  revive  the  heart  of  the  contrite  ones." 
(Isa.  Ivii,  15.) 

Man,  by  the  depraved  activity  of  his  will,  has 
broken  away  from  God.  He  has  forsaken  God,  but 
God  has  not  forsaken  him.  Man  must,  therefore, 
return  to  him.  It  is  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
of  divine  order,  which  the  Deity  has  established, 
and  whlijh.,  are  as  invariable  as  the  infinite  perfec- 
tions of  Jehovah,  from  which  they  proceed,  that 
man   must   return   unto   God,  and   prepare   himself 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  327 

for  the  reception  of  God ;  and  so  far  as  lie 
does  this  will  God  enter  into  him,  as  into  his 
habitation  and  hoiise.  Man  must  accede  or  ap- 
proach unto  God ;  and  then  will  God  accede 
or  approach  unto  man,  according  to  the  prom- 
ise, "  Draw  nigh  unto  God,  and  he  will  draw 
nigh  unto  thee."  (James  iv.  8.)  "  Return  unto 
me,  and  I  will  return  unto  you,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts."  (Mai.  ii.  7.)  This  we  are  to  do,  in  the 
exercise  of  our  free  will,  as  from  ourselves,  though 
the  grace,  which  empowers  us  so  to  act,  is  from 
Him  who  is  the  fountain  of  every  good  and  per- 
fect gift. 

In  the  Island  of  Henotia,  the  centre  of  the 
group  of  the  Happy  Islands,  the  soul  attained  the 
end  of  its  creation.  Its  life  became  mingled  with 
the  current  of  the  divine  life  in  Christ,  and  flowed 
on  with  it.  This  island  was  larger  than  any  of 
the  others.  The  others  seemed  to  have  been  sep- 
arated from  it.  In  the  centre  there  stood  a  moun- 
tain covered  with  perpetual  verdure,  surrounded 
with  several  lesser  summits.  The  water  flowed 
down  from  these  hills,  in  beautiful  cascades,  into  a 
small    central    lake,    where    they  all    united.     Be- 


328  THE     HATTY     ISLANDS,     OK 

tween  two  hills  tlierc  was  presented  a  vale  of 
surpassing  beauty,  some  three  miles  in  length,  and 
which  was  called  "  the  Vale  of  Repose  "  —  Vallis 
Quiclis.  The  small  river,  proceeding  from  the 
lake,  flowed  through  this  valley,  and  after  pass- 
ing through  a  plain  enamelled  with  flowers,  dis- 
charged its  waters  into  the  ocean.  The  valley 
extended  on  each  side  of  the  river  nearly  a  mile. 
It  was  adorned  with  the  beautiful  creations  of 
God.  The  atmosphere  was  serene,  and  the  hills 
crowned  with  herbage  to  their  summits.  Along 
the  banks  of  this  river,  the  Divine  ]\Ian  walked 
with  the  soul.  The  inhabitants  of  the  island, 
clothed  in  garments  white  as  the  unsullied  snow, 
might  be  seen  on  the  hill  sides  and  in  the  vale. 
A  place  of  such  divine  blessedness  was  never  be- 
fore seen  on  earth.  Here  the  soul  found  all  that 
it  had  lost  in  the  original  transgression,  and  here 
it  resolved  to  make  its  abode  w'hile  it  remained  on 
earth.  From  this  place  it  Avould  send  out  an  in- 
vitation to  all  the  struggling  souls  of  earth  to 
come  and  share  its  perfect  blessedness. 

Here    it    appeared    more    clearly    than   had    ever 
before  been  realized,  that  the  proper  destination  of 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  329 

a  human  soul  is  an  eternal  union  with  God,  through 
the  mediation  of  Christ,  just  as  a  river  flows  on- 
ward, until  it  mingles  its  waters  with  those  of  the 
abyss.  But  there  are  some  rivers  which  empty 
into  lakes,  and  do  not  reach  the  ocean  directly. 
They  appear  satisfied  to  lose  themselves  in  some 
inland  sea,  instead  of  flowing  onward  to  the  great 
deep,  which  is  their  proper  destination,  and  whence 
they  came.  So  there  are  souls  that  seek  their 
sujjremc  good  only  in  the  enjoyment  of  earthly 
things.     Tliey  are  of  the  earth,  earthy  :  — 

"Yet  man,  fool  man,  here  buries  all  his  thoughts, 
Inters  celestial  hopes,  without  one  sigh  ; 
Prisoner  of  earth,  and  pent  beneath  the  moon, 
Here  pinions  all  his  wishes,  winged  of  Heaven 
To  fly  at  infinite,  and  reach  it  there 
Where  seraphs  gather  immortality 
On  life's  fair  tree,  fast  by  the  throne  of  God." 

There  are  other  rivers,  which,  after  flowing  for  a 
long  distance,  are  absorbed  by  the  sands  of  the 
desert,  or  what  is  worse,  discharge  themselves  into 
stagnant  marshes,  the  home  of  dragons  and  all 
loathsome  reptiles.  These  dismal  marshes  load 
every  breeze  with  their  death-dealing  malaria. 
They  represent  a  class  of  human  souls  —  men  who 
28^' 


330  THE     HAPPY     ISLANDS,     OK 

lose  all  sense  of  God,  and  relish  for  divine  things, 
carnal,  earthly,  selfish,  whose  influence  is  a  moral 
pestilence.  All  their  thoughts,  hopes,  affections, 
and  desires  are  buried  in  the  stagnant  slough  of 
sensuality.  But  the  largest  and  noblest  rivers 
never  rest  until  they  reach  the  ocean.  Some  of 
them  flow  thousands  of  miles  before  they  discharge 
their  waters  into  the  sea ;  running  onward,  night 
and  day,  between  the  mountains  and  the  hills, 
through  the  valleys  and  plains,  traversing  whole 
empires  before  they  become  one  with  the  ocean. 
Sometimes  they  lose  themselves  in  the  abyss  noise- 
lessly and  quietly.  They  make  no  resistance,  and 
without  a  struggle  mingle  their  waters  with  the 
waves  of  the  deep,  and  soon  partake  of  all  the 
properties  and  qualities  of  the  sea,  reposing,  after 
all  their  wanderings,  in  its  bosom.  But  sometimes, 
at  the  point  where  a  vast  river,  which  has  flowed 
through  kingdoms,  and  which  is  proud  of  its  inde- 
pendence, comes  in  contact  with  the  ocean,  there 
is  a  terrible  commotion,  like  the  hostile  commin- 
gling of  heaven  and  earth.  The  river  dies  hard. 
It  is  unwilling  to  lose  itself  and  be  merged  in 
the  abyss.     It  clings,  with  a  convulsive  death  grasp, 


PARADISE     RESTORED.  331 

to  its  selfhood.  The  ocean  goes  cahiily  forth  to 
meet  it,  but  it  repels  the  embrace,  and  shrinks 
back  upon  itself.  Travellers  have  spoken  of  the 
terrific  spectacle  produced  when  the  tide  of  the 
Atlantic  meets  the  current  of  the  Amazon.  It  is 
like  the  conflict  of  Titans,  the  war  of  giants.  The 
earth  trembles  with  the  roar  of  their  blows,  and 
man  flics  with  terror  from  the  scene  of  the  en- 
counter. At  length,  however,  the  river  }lelds,  the 
ocean  conquers,  —  for  what  is  the  mightiest  river 
compared  with  the  ocean  ?  —  the  war  ceases,  and 
they  are  locked  in  a  perpetual  embrace.  So  there 
are  souls  that  quietly  and  calmly  resign  their  Avill 
to  God.  They  sink,  by  dying  love  compelled,  and 
without  a  struggle  plunge  into  the  "  Godhead's 
deepest  sea,"  and  lose  themselves  in  his  immen- 
sity, and  sleep  on  the  abyss  of  Deity,  which  is 
without  a  surge.  They  make  no  more  resistance 
than  midnight  does  to  the  noiseless  approach  of 
the  morning.  There  are  others,  who,  right  at  the 
point  of  parting  with  all  that  they  may  gain  all, 
pass  through  a  terrible  struggle.  The  old  nature 
dies  hard.  The  nails  and  thorns  of  the  cross  hurt. 
The  soul  is  convulsed  like  the  upheaving  of  moun- 


332  THE    iiArrY    islands,    ok 

tains.  But  when,  in  this  struggle  of  free  will 
against  the  demands  of  God,  which  he  ceaselessly 
thunders  in  our  ears,   the  heart  cries,  — 

"Nay,  but  I  yield,  I  yield; 
I  can  hold  out  no  more," 

the  contest  is  ended.  Our  selfhood  dies.  Our 
will  yields  to  the  current  of  the  divine  attraction, 
and  loses  itself  in  God.  We  are  then  dead,  and 
our  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 


We  have  now  made  the  circuit  of  the  Happy 
Islands,  and  glanced  at  the  blessedness  of  their 
inhabitants.  But  never  can  it  fully  be  compre- 
hended except  by  an  actual  residence  there.  Let 
me  then  urge  my  Christian  friend,  who  has  deigned 
to  read  this  little  volume,  to  start  at  once  in  search 
of  them.  They  are  not  afar  off,  but  near  at  hand. 
The  voyage  to  them  is  neither  difficult  nor  peril- 
ous. Unless  you  are  driven  out  of  yo\ir  course,  or 
deceived  by  outward  appearances,  or  stoj)  at  some 
land  which  is  not  the  region  of  the  blessed,  you 
mav  soon  reach  them.     Paradise  has  not  been  for- 


PARADISE     IlESTOKED.  333 

ever  lost  to  earth.  The  Redeemer  has  opened 
M"idc  its  gates,  and  invites  its  to  enter.  If  we  live 
in  a  -wilderness  of  sin  and  woe,  it  is  not  because 
Christianity  has  been  meagre  in  its  provisions. 
Christ  has  provided  a  salvation  as  finished  as  our 
ruin  was  complete.  Let  us  avail  ourselves  of  the 
ample  provisions  of  his  redeeming  scheme,  and  find 
rest  in  the  cross  of  Christ. 

"  Come,  Holy  Ghost,  all-quickening  fire. 
Come,  and  in  me  delight  to  rest ; 
Drawn  by  the  lure  of  strong  desire, 
O,  come  and  consecrate  my  breast; 
The  temple  of  my  soul  prepare. 
And  fix  thy  sacred  presence  there. 

If  now  thine  influence  I  feel, 
If  now  in  thee  begin  to  live, 
Still  to  my  heart  thyself  reveal ; 
Give  me  thyself,  forever  give ; 
A  point  my  good,  a  drop  my  store, 
Eager  I  ask,  I  pant  for  more. 

Eager  for  thee  I  ask  and  pant; 
So  strong  the  principle  divine 
Carries  me  out  with  sweet  constraint. 
Till  all  my  hallowed  soul  is  thine  ; 
Plunged  in  the  Godhead's  deepest  sea, 
And  lost  in  thy  immensity. 


334  THE    HArrY    islands. 

My  peace,  ray  life,  my  comfort  thou, 
My  treasure  and  my  all  thou  art; 
True  witness  of  my  sonship,  now 
Engraving  pardon  on  my  heart ; 
Seal  of  my  sins  in  Christ  forgiven, 
Earnest  of  love,  and  pledge  of  heaven. 


